If these 2 Powell County Kentucky first responders lose their licenses for lack of "wilderness certification," then @StateofKy is more screwed up than just their gov, sens, & reps
EMTs Under Fire for Treating Man with Antivenom After He Was Bitten by Snake https://t.co/nbVHylTFQY— Rita Rutherford (@ritatow) September 29, 2025
Reminds me of an old snake joke.
Mamba snake?
"Qualified" is a bureaucratic designation, a piece of paper signed by a professional paper-pusher.
"Competent" means "able to do the job" .
This paramedic was clearly competent, regardless of any piece of paper, or lack thereof.
Probably the EMT’s were required to take a course for X dollars to get the certification. If they are allowed to use the treatment without getting the certification then the certification will not really be a requirement and that source of revenue will disappear. Therefore, they must be punished to force others to get the certification. In all cases, follow the money.
I thought anyone can work under an MD’s license . Only caveat is that the MD takes on the liability. Otherwise no med student could do any work.
Green and black mambas are indigenous to Africa. What is one doing in Kentucky?
“
Ain’t no lion or tiger, ain’t no mamba snake
Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake
Everybody is as happy as a man can be
Climb aboard, little wog, sail away with me”
Sail Away. Randy Newman
Wilderness training in Kentucky is how to deal with shotgun wounds from “recreational distillers” protecting their equipment. Maybe rattlesnakes and copperheads too.
Is the survivor a registered Republican? Did he think Charlie Kirk was a good guy?
If so, that is why they are really angry he is still alive.
Absurd and a waste of time and money to pursue this prosecution.
Surely someone with enough authority and common sense will shut this stupidity down.
They need a lawyer. They did what they did under the direction of an ER physician who was authorized to order such treatments!! Even if the persons did not have the exact certificate to administer it on their own, they had the expertise to administer it as DIRECTED by a senior presiding Health provider...ie. the DOCTOR. I should think that if the doctor were brought in as a witness along with other legal documentation on behalf of these two men, that their licenses could be preserved. The EMT’s weren’t operating in a vacuum and they were the ones with the medicine who could deliver it in time in a timely matter. If they had waited fpr some shmoe with the proper certificate, the victim might well have died before getting the antivenom med from the “properly certified” person.
On the other hand, a wiser solution which would have saved face for everyone is a stay on license removal provided ,that the two EMTs get their wilderness certification say within 1 year. Authority is maintained and kentucky doesn’t lose to valuable EMTs!
Well if they want to be really even more stupid, why not take the ER doctor’s license for recommending treatment to someone he has never examined. And then charge the patient himself for taking the antidote snake serum in his pocket.
Common sense is not very common, especially among government bureaucrats who love to play “gotcha” games with people to justify their salaries.
Common sense is not very common, especially among government bureaucrats who love to play “gotcha” games with people to justify their salaries.
When Emergency Medical Services demand that you get their approval before saving lives, then you can rest assured that they are no longer about Medical Services. The Entire KBEMS should be dismantled, if not sued personally into oblivion.
If Governor Beshear doesn’t step in and clear up this FUBAR...
...if I was the victim Beshear’s political career would be OVER, along with any pol who refused to craft a bill to correct this FUBAR.
Off with their heads, so to speak.
smh
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