Posted on 09/29/2025 12:04:57 PM PDT by Red Badger
This is absolutely insane!
Bureaucracy run amok, and that’s putting it kindly.
Folks, common sense is GONE in America, and this proves it once again.
Two first responders from Powell County in Kentucky saved a man’s life after he was bit by a poisonous mamba snake and was advancing towards cardiac arrest.
They administered anti-venom that they luckily had brought with them and saved the man who almost certainly would have died without it.
The problem?
Well, there is no problem if you ask me, but if you ask the red-tape bureaucrats the problem is they didn’t have the necessary “wilderness” certification necessary to administer anti-venom.
Unreal.
This guy explains it well here:
The KY Board of Emergency Medical Services should be thanking Eddie Barnes for saving a life. Instead they are trying to take his career away, because he acted.
Read and Listen ⬇️https://t.co/y58m20YlMV pic.twitter.com/WgFMtMtaro— Liam Gallagher (@LiamGallagherKY) September 29, 2025
Yahoo News / People adds these details:
Two first responders in Kentucky could potentially lose their licences after saving a man’s life.
Powell County paramedic Eddie Barnes and one of his team members were called to the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in May after the zoo’s co-director, James Harrison, was bitten by a poisonous mamba snake, local news outlet LEX 18 reported.
Barnes told the outlet that he and his teammate went with Harrison to the airport to wait for a medical helicopter. While they were waiting, Harrison told them he needed antivenom as soon as possible — and that he had brought his own from the zoo.
“He said the first part of the stage is paralysis, second part is respiratory arrest, third part is cardiac arrest. He said, ‘I’m gonna die,’ ” Barnes recalled while speaking to the outlet.
Barnes said he attempted to call his supervisor, who didn’t answer, and so he then reached out to Clark Regional Medical Center and spoke to an ER doctor who “gave us permission” to administer the antivenom.
Now, Barnes and his teammate may lose their EMS licenses due to a technicality: Only first responders classified as “wilderness paramedics” are authorized to administer antivenom, per the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services (KBEMS), according to LEX 18. The policy was put in place two years ago, per the outlet.
Neither Barnes nor his partner had wilderness paramedic certification at the time of the incident, and they now have a hearing scheduled for Sept. 30 to find out if they will get to keep their licenses.
Absolutely ridiculous!
Not a single moment more should be spent on this.
Give them an award for having the foresight to bring the anti-venom and save this man’s life!
VIDEO AT LINK........................
“Walter Davis, Mambo king.” /obscure
They probably had CROFAB. It’s for rattlesnakes, copperheads, water moccasins, cottonmouths bites. Using it for Black Mamba would be off label.
EMTs and paramedics have the six Rs; right patient, right medication, right dose, right time, right route, right documentation.
Technically, it might not have been the patient’s medication,
They called and had a doctor’s okay. It should be a pass.
You do get in trouble if you violate policy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOJJ_RLrwI0
The phrase is venomous mamba snake. Not "poisonous."
That was my question, Mamba snake is not native to the US. It likely is a crime to bring in a Black Mamba as a pet.
Then again, we could release these in Minnesota and parts of Michigan.
That was my question, Mamba snake is not native to the US. It likely is a crime to bring in a Black Mamba as a pet.
Then again, we could release these in Minnesota and parts of Michigan.
That "tradition" is dishonorable and people here should abandon it.
I am well aware of “scope of practice” and the associated limits of liability. It’s ultimately a lawyer/bureaucrat thing. There’s what I’m officially trained and certified to do ... and there’s what I know how to do. The latter category is much larger than the former.
Oh ... and BTW, the article tells us that the bitten zookeeper had the mamba antivenin.
Im not a lawyer but that is something like we have here.
I assisted people considered to be extreme behaviorals. They could and did hurt themselves and/or others from time to time meaning you had contact with emergency services.
Once a LEO, paramedic, physician, etc had taken control of the situation you were responsible to take orders from them and do as they directed.
Consider Good Samaritan laws. Assume this man had been bitten and was carrying the anti-venom then fell down on the sidewalk before he got to the hospital. When you show up he says, “Quick, you have to give me this shot of anti-venom! I cant hold it myself anymore.” then wouldnt yo be protected?
The story doesnt make sense for a couple of reasons but I seem to remember another story some years back where someone down there also had gotten in trouble in another rather illogical situation due to the same wildlife certification rules.
Barnes is either a Paramedic or an EMT.
I was an EMT. You don’t need certification if a doctor orders the anti-venom. You follow the orders if able.
A decision on the license revocation is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Only to those who never heard of a Mamba snake
Only to those who never heard of a Mamba snake
Only to those who never heard of a Mamba snake
Nasty snakes.
Well, I'm going to blame Biden's open borders.
I do think they have them down at the Dallas Zoo, however.
But the black ones are from Africa. The green ones are from Mars.
Since it happened at the zoo (oh the snake was venomous not poisonous(afaik)) why would the EMT need to have a “wilderness certificate” to administer the anti-venom? You see being a logical person I would think that the certificate was for administering anti-venom in the wilderness where you may be miles away from a full service hospital and incorrectly giving the anti-venom could mean major (possibly fatal) consequences.
Visiting relatives? 🤣
Rand Paul’s fault... /s
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