Training on recently deceased patients will no longer be an accepted practice for Bellingham Fire Department paramedics, as the department’s policy has been clarified in response to a dead man being intubated by 11 employees July 31 on the floor of Station 1.
“Patient care and procedures should only be provided with the goal of patient resuscitation,” assistant supervising physician Dr. Emily Junck said Thursday in an emailed statement to The Bellingham Herald. “After a patient has been pronounced as deceased, no further procedures should be provided without consent of next of kin or durable power of attorney.”
Dr. Junck will transition to the city’s supervising physician Jan. 1.
“Tube checks” — or extricating breathing tubes that were placed as life-saving measures after patients died and then quickly reinserting them to help paramedics practice the procedure and meet requirements for certification — were found to have been an accepted practice of the department, according to an investigation into the July 31 incident by Seattle attorney Sarah I.