Car Crash
Was appropriate care rendered by the Berlin Fire Company paramedics in a December 26th car accident at the intersection of Routes 50 and 818 that left one dead?
EMS Medical Director Richard Alcorta said yes in a letter to Mayor Gee Williams after a review by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Service Systems.
That’s despite bickering that broke out at the scene with Berlin police officer driving the ambulance to the hospital.
But the Salisbury Daily Times reports that Alcorta noted there were underlying tensions surrounding the delivery of medical services in Berlin that could have an impact on patient care and must be addressed.
Mayor Williams said that the state review simply passed the buck to the local EMS essentially saying that yes there is a problem but it’s up to the town of Berlin to solve it.
But he noted that the town had no authority to make changes in the command structure or leadership that he believes is the cause of the problem.
The crash occurred when 25 year-old Amberlee Booker crashed into an oncoming Dodge Ram driven by Christopher Keenan head west on Route 50.
Booker survived but her passenger 26 year-old Stephen Mumpower later died at the hospital.
Lawsuit
BERLIN, Md. (AP) - A judge has dismissed a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former paramedic on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Norris Phillip Donohoe Jr. alleged in his lawsuit that he was wrongfully fired from his job as an emergency medical services supervisor in Berlin.
He was fired after the town received complaints of harassment within the department, but Donohoe says he'd never been the target of infractions or disciplinary complaints in his 23 years with the fire company.
The Daily Times of Salisbury reports that Worcester County Circuit Court Judge David B. Mitchell dismissed the lawsuit, which was filed last July and later amended, on the basis of governmental and legislative immunity.
Donohoe's lawyer says Donohoe plans to appeal and "will ultimately prevail."
