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Two New Bedford paramedics faulted for not giving CPR to infant

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 3, 2009 04:51 PM

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Two New Bedford paramedics are facing disciplinary action by the city and by the state Department of Public Health for refusing to provide CPR to an infant found unresponsive inside a home, a child who was later pronounced dead, city and state officials said.

New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang said today he will hold a disciplinary hearing Friday for the two city employees and will also inquire into the operations of the city's Emergency Medical Services agency.

"By and large, I think it provides a very high quality of service,'' Lang said of the city's ambulance service. "What we have here is a situation where we have an incident that makes everyone take a look and to make sure that we are following through on appropriate mandates.''

The move by Lang comes after an April conclusion by the state Department of Public Health that two paramedics violated medical protocols when they decided against providing CPR to an unresponsive infant. The two were suspended by the DPH for 30 days.

The DPH identified the paramedics as Rosemary Nunes and Ivan Brody. They could not be reached for comment today.

In a five-page report, the DPH said public safety officials responded to an unidentified New Bedford home on Dec. 4 around 3:14 a.m. for "a baby not breathing.''

A family member began CPR and a New Bedford police officer had taken over the task before paramedics arrived. The infant was handed over to Nunes and Brody, and neither continued the CPR, the DPH said.

Brody later told city officials and the DPH that he thought the child was deceased but was just going to transport the child to the hospital so the infant's parents would not have the baby in their home while the death was investigated.

Nunes told the city and the DPH that she feared the child had been smothered and so supported Brody's decision not to do CPR.

But the DPH said neither paramedic made the required medical analysis on the child to make sure the infant had died before they decided to withhold CPR.

The paramedics first needed to check the child for signs of rigor mortis, body temperature, lung sounds, and reaction to light, the DPH said.

"There is no evidence that this patient met the criteria for (paramedics) to withhold or cease CPR efforts,'' the DPH concluded. "There was no Comfort Care/DNR verification form, no trauma inconsistent with survival. and no body condition clearly indicating death.''

Brody was also cited for filing an inaccurate report.

The DPH report does not conclude whether the decision not to provide CPR would have saved the child.

But in a telephone interview today, Lang said that it was his understanding that "no one has indicated to me that the outcome would have changed in any way. ''

The parents of the infant are not named in the DPH report, but were identified by WBZ-TV as Melissa Valliere and Richard Rock. They could not be reached for comment today.