HomeMy WebLinkAboutAmbulance Committee Minutes 10.26.1992 AMBULANCE COMMITTEE
Date Oct. 26, 1992 Time
Place of Meeting FAP
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Chairman- Gay Easton
Dan Lowell' Cheryl Marshall
Norman Orr Donna Kilpatrick
Jack Galusha
OTHER'S PRESENT: .Joe Bradley Bill Caton Myra Due
· Sharon ~erman Sue Blaskovich Debbie Drake
Norma Larson Dan Koch Mike Kirschenmann
Mona Bailey Dan Koch, Jr.
A quorum (3 or more) present, the following action was taken by
the Committee:
The purpose of this meeting was the appeal of dismissal of
Bill Caton.
On October 5th the committee met at the FAP Complex to discuss
with Bill Caton some of the problems and complaints that were
made on him by other attendents on the scene of an accident on
October 2nd.
On October 19th the Committee met again and listened to Bill
Caton's complaints, and they also received his letter appealing his
dismissal.
A date was set of October 26th for the appeal. Ail reports
and information was sent to each committee member prior to this
meeting for their review.
Joe Bradley spoke and said, that as far as he is concerned
everything leading up to the dismissal was done correctly, legally.
All those people involved in the "incident" of October 2nd submitted
testimony concerning what happened. After Cheryl and Sharon talked
to Blll, he was informed of his dismissal.
The issue seems to be in how Caton handled himself on a call with
Mike Kirschenmann. There was an incident that happened in the
hospital emergency room that same date of October 2nd. That incident
is detailed in a testimony from Mary Ann Rangitsch.
Cheryl Marshall said that an RN from the hospital witnessed it
all, but Cheryl has been unable to contact that person for a
testimony.
The conduct on the accident scene of October 2nd and the incident
in the hospital that same day, plus putting an innocent attendent
in the middle of the battle with the collar all contributed to the
dismissal of Bill. This was not the first problem they have had
with him.
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Ambulance Committee minutes of October 26, 1992
Bill Caton spoke. He says that Cheryl has called him up on
the carpet before. Some of the complaints against him were true,
but most of them were unfounded. He also feels that some of the
information put into the reports on the "incident" was inacurate.
He also would like to point out that he has never received any
written notice on any of these so called problems he has caused.
Cheryl said that she suggested to Bill at one time that he
needed to take some time off because she felt that stress was
contributing to some of the complaints made on him. He agreed to
take 3 weeks off. Cheryl said that if he hadn't of agreed to
taking the time off, he would of gotten a letter.
Joe states that the bottom line in all of this, is that Bill
has never received a letter of reprimand.
Joe suggested that Bill give his side of the story.
Bill says that yes he did take the collar and say he wasn't going
to use it. He gave his reasons for not using the collar as a
personal preference in the equipment that they use. He says the collar
that they want him to use just beats the bear minimum of standards
that should be used. He hopes that the other attendents feel the
same way. Just because he decided not to use the collar that Mike
Kirschenmann had selected for him to use was no reason for Mlke to tell
him to put the collar on himself and that he wuuld talk to him later.
He left Bill standing there with the patient by himself. Bill spoke
to Mike only 3 times at the scene. When the ambulance pulled up,
Mike gave an update on the patients, and Bill saw two cars in the ditch.
He asked Mike who was in the second car at the scene of the accident, and
Mike was unaware of a second car. Bill went to get the equipment to
package up the patient for transport. When Mike handed him the blue
collar to use, Bill informed Mike that he wasn't going to use the
blue collar and tossed it behind him. He would also like to point
out that the ditch he threw it into was only 5-6 feet behind them,
not 30 feet like it has been suggested. Mike then left the scene,
and Mary Ann Rangitsch helped Bill get the patient into traction for
transport. Mike dld then come back and ask Bill if he needed someone
to drive to Billings. Bill says he checked with the other attendents
and didn't need any help.
Myra Due spoke out and said that Bill did not check with any
of the attendents, like he alleges.
Bill said he did go and talk to Mike later to tell him that he
didn't want to talk to him. He felt that Mike was very nasty to him,
and he doesn't know whether or not he came to the scene angry or
upset from something else. Bill says that he feels that Mike's
actions and attitude were inappropriate.
Bill says that as for the rest of it, he's sorry if Cheryl
Marshall feels that her authority was undermined when he checked on
the validity of the collar. He had already gotten a second opinion
on the collar and he didn't feel that he needed to give a testimony
on it to her. He just decided on his own to use the other collar.
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Ambulance Committee minutes of October 26, 1992
Gay Easton questions Bill if he thinks it was appropriate
to by-pass his superiors wishes in a case like this?
He said that at that point it was like he was being crucified
and he felt it was important to get a second opinion from another
source, on the collar.
The person he wanted the second opinion from never did get back
with him on his thoughts on the collar.
He also doesn't think he did very much to compromise patient
care at the scene of the Oct. 2nd accident. He is also disappointed
that the discipline in the ambulance service is done very
haphazardly. One attendent is dismissed over an incident while the
other attendent is only given a letter of reprimand (Mike Kirschenmann).
He also feels that with Mike Kirschenmann working both as a reserve
police officer and an ambulance attendent it is sometimes hard to tell
at which capacity he is filling at which time.
Question as to whether or not we should hear Mike Kir$chenmann's
side of the story.
Joe states that it is already in writing.
Jack Galusha states that because this is a volunteer service,
it behooves the attendents to get along. Also, the scene of an
accident is no place for an attendent to lose his temper. If the
attendent's are adults, the problems encountered with each other can be
handled at another time. He feels that Cheryl Marshall's actions
were warranted because of the lack of professionalism shown in this
case.
Motion by Jack Galusha, seconded by Norman Orr, to uphold the
decision of the Director in Bill Caton's dismissal.
Donna Kilpatrick comments that because attendents are hard to
find and keep on the job, that it's a shame when we lose one. But,
she can see from the feelings that there is nothing that can be
done to help at this time.
Question is called for. Motion carries with a 4--1 vote, with
Donna Kilpatrick voting "No".
Joe informed Bill Caton that the decision of the committee will
be reported to the City Council at the next meeting, and he can be
present for that if he chooses.
itted,
Gay Easton,~alrman