Published July 16 in the Henry County Local

Henry County EMS under investigation

By BROOKE MELVILLE
Henry County Local

NEW CASTLE — Following a fall and a resulting blow to the head, three-year-old Bailey Braswell was en route to Jewish Hospital Shelbyville in the back seat of Eminence Police Chief Mount Hadden’s patrol car on March 5 when the child stopped breathing. He died the next day at Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville. Why he was in a patrol car instead of an ambulance is a question currently under investigation by the State Board of Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

According to statements made by Hadden in March, he and an off-duty emergency medical technician (EMT), Stevie Lucas, reported to the accident scene after hearing a code yellow dispatch on the scanner. Hadden said that when Lucas called the EMS building to request that an ambulance meet him at the accident scene, he was told, “No, I’m too busy,” by the only employee then at the EMS building: EMS Director Bonnie Smith.

Bailey’s father Jimmy Braswell has been outspoken about his feelings on the subject.

“We have a major problem in this county,” Braswell said. “For someone with that sort of responsibility to respond that way to a distress call—and for her to be in that office with an ambulance available—I don’t care if she was alone.... That’s just ridiculous.”

But news reports that the Henry County EMS could be shut down as a result of the investigation are premature and paint only a small portion of the overall story.

According to Henry County EMS Advisory Board Chairman Homer Druin, any complaint filed with the state EMS Board must be investigated—whether that complaint involves a death or simply an on-duty EMT chewing tobacco when he/she reports to the scene of an accident.

“Any complaint must be investigated, and any complaint is a formal complaint,” Druin said. He added that all preliminary information leading to the state board investigations is completely confidential and not disclosed to the public or to the local boards, pursuant to KRS 311.652 to 311.660.

Druin said that during the initial stages of an investigation, the state board conducts a series of inquiries throughout the county, sending letters of invitation or subpoenas to various individuals as a means to validate the complaint and determine if there really was negligence involved.

According to statute, only after those steps have taken place would the state board decide on any disciplinary action, which could result in anything from fines, restrictions, suspensions, reprimands, revocation of licenses or civil penalties.

Druin also indicated that the recent arrest of former Henry County EMT Chris Dunavent on drug charges has been included in the mix of “rumors, television coverage and innuendoes” surrounding a possible investigation. Druin said that the arrest is a “law enforcement issue,” but confirmed that EMTs convicted of felonies must forfeit their EMT certification.

Meanwhile, regardless of the outcome of the state board’s investigation, Braswell is determined to make sure similar non-response issues do not occur in the future. He confirmed Thursday that he has hired an attorney from Louisville, and that a lawsuit against the county will be filed “as soon as possible.”

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