3 Memphis Fire Dept. workers terminated for their response to police beating of Tyre Nichols

Memphis Fire Department says employees violated several department policies, protocols

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The Memphis Fire Department (MFD) said Monday that it has terminated three employees in connection with their response to the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols.

The MFD said in a statement that emergency medical technicians (EMTs) Robert Long and JaMichael Sandridge and fire engine driver Lt. Michelle Whitaker failed to provide adequate medical care to Nichols.

“After concluding our internal investigation, it was determined that EMT-B Long, EMT-A Sandridge and Lt. Whitaker violated numerous MFD Policies and Protocols,” the MFD said.

“Their actions or inactions on the scene that night do not meet the expectations of the Memphis Fire Department and are not reflective of the outstanding service the men and women of the Memphis Fire Department provide daily in our community,” it added.

Nichols, 29, died Jan. 10, three days after being exposed to brutal police violence during a traffic stop in Memphis in the state of Tennessee.

A graphic video released Friday showed five now-former Memphis Police Department officers initially pulling over Nichols and later throwing him to the ground, trying to cuff him and use a taser before Nichols escapes and runs away but is later caught and beaten.

Nichols is heard calling out “Mom!” as officers punch him, kick him in the face, pepper spray him and strike him with a baton before his body goes limp.

The MFD said in the statement that they were dispatched to the area of the scene at 8.32 p.m. on Jan. 7 after receiving a call from the Memphis Police Department at 8.31 p.m. to respond to a "person pepper sprayed.”

The three now terminated employees arrived on the scene around 8.41 p.m., 10 minutes after the call, according to the statement.

“Our investigation has concluded that the two EMT's responded based on the initial nature of the call (person pepper sprayed) and information they were told on the scene and failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols,” the statement said.

Kaynak:

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