Ambulance Attendants Accused of Molesting Patients

Dec. 11, 2008— -- DALLAS (AP) - They answer the call 24-7, often risking their ownsafety to rescue the sick and injured and rush them to thehospital. But some paramedics have been more predator than hero.

Over the past 18 months, at least 129 ambulance attendantsacross the U.S. have been accused of sex-related crimes on duty oroff, an investigation by The Associated Press found. Some of themmolested patients in the back of an ambulance.

"It's a dream job for a sexual predator," said Greg Kafoury, aPortland, Ore., lawyer who represents three women who were gropedby a paramedic. "Everything is there: Women who are incapacitated,so they're hugely distracted. Medical cover to put your hands inplaces where, in any other context, a predator would be immediatelyrecognized as such."

Across the U.S., emergency medical technicians have been accusedin recent months of such crimes as rape, soliciting minors over theInternet and possession of child porn, according to an AP survey ofthe state agencies that oversee those professions.

Exactly how many of these EMTs were alleged to have committedtheir crimes on the job is unclear. But some of more shocking casesinclude:

- A Standish, Mich., paramedic sent to prison in March formolesting a girl who was on her way to the hospital after she wasinjured at her 15th birthday party.

- A Pinellas County, Fla., paramedic arrested in July after heallegedly sexually assaulted a woman in an ambulance en route to ahospital.

- A Chester County, Pa., paramedic sentenced in July to up to 20years in prison for engaging in sex and providing alcohol toteenagers he befriended through their interest in emergency medicalservice.

- A Copperas Cove, Texas, paramedic awaiting trial in January oncharges he exposed and touched an 18-year-old accident victim'sbreasts while pretending to tend to her injuries.

- A Chattanooga, Tenn., EMT accused in a lawsuit of giving a30-year-old woman an extra dose of morphine and then completelyundressing her in the back of an ambulance even though her injurieswere minor.

State health officials in 23 states reported receivingsex-related complaints involving EMS workers. New York reported themost complaints -- 17. Thirteen of the complaints were substantiatedand resulted in workers losing their certification. Texas reported13 complaints, Massachusetts 11 and Virginia 10. No breakdown wasimmediately available showing how many of those allegationsinvolved sexual misconduct on the job.

Several EMS officials said the number of complaints is troublingbut does not necessarily point to an industrywide problem. Theynoted that the profession employs nearly 900,000 people in the U.S.

"That number in and of itself doesn't shock me, knowing thenumber of providers we have in the country," said Steve Blessing,state EMS director in Delaware and president of the NationalAssociation of State EMS Officials. "Is even one case tolerable? Ithink most state directors would say no. But we're bound by realityhere."

In Portland, paramedic Lannie Haszard was sentenced to fiveyears in prison in August after pleading guilty to five counts ofattempted sexual abuse. Haszard, 62, was charged withinappropriately touching four female patients while they were beingtaken by ambulance to hospitals.

Three of the women have sued Haszard and American MedicalResponse, his employer at the time. The lawsuits contend that thecompany, which operates ambulances in 40 states, failed to react toprevious complaints about the paramedic's conduct.

Haszard's behavior came to light last December when a28-year-old single mother of three, Royshekka Herring, told policethat he touched her genitals while she was en route to the hospitalfor emergency treatment of a gastrointestinal condition.

In a recent taped deposition, Herring's voice shook with emotionas she described how a nurse tried to convince her that Haszard wasprobably performing an abdominal exam.

"I started yelling at her, because I didn't feel safe,"Herring testified. "Somebody I never expected to touch me touchedme."

A spokesman for American Medical Response had no comment on thecase.

Former Dallas Fire Chief Steve Abraira suggested ambulancescarry three workers. Ambulances usually have two -- one in thefront, one in the back.

"If there's a person predisposed to do something wrong, there'snobody there to witness or discourage that individual from doingsomething," said Abraira, now the fire chief in Palm Bay, Fla.

Twenty-eight states do not automatically bar known sex offendersfrom working as EMTs, the AP found.

Although most insist they would rarely, if ever, allow sexoffenders to work those jobs, the AP found that Texas has knowinglyallowed eight, Louisiana two and Maine, Virginia and North Carolinaone each. There is no indication any of those people were accusedof sexual misconduct after being allowed to work EMS jobs.

Twenty-two states strictly prohibit such offenders from workingas EMTs.

"This is the type of person we don't want in the back of anambulance with your mother or daughter," said March Tucker, an EMSregulator in West Virginia.

All but one of the eight registered sex offenders certified towork in Texas victimized children ranging in age from 6 to 16.

"Oh, my goodness, that's really scary," said Winfred Dean, whosupervises the sex offender monitoring unit for the Harris Countyprobation department in Houston. "I thought people like that wouldmore than likely be eliminated."

Texas officials said state regulations call for EMS licensingdecisions to be made on a case-by-case basis.

"The only thing we can do is follow the law, and the law allowsthis," said Maxie Bishop, state EMS director. "We have to take alook at the crime, how long it's been, the nature of it and whatthat person has done since."

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Associated Press writers Brian Farkas in Charleston W.Va., andRichard Richtmyer in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.