EMT charged with Manslaughter

A Bristol emergency medical technician has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after allegedly shocking a co-worker with a defibrillator paddle.

Joshua Martin, 24, of Clarks Street, Bristol, Va., was arrested Saturday and charged just hours after his co-worker Courtney Leighann Hilton, 23, died from injuries sustained in the June 1 incident.

Hilton, a Scott County native and mother of two who was living in Lebanon at the time of her death, will be buried in Holston View Cemetery in Weber City on Thursday.

Lebanon Police Chief Mark Mitchell said Tuesday that "negligent use of a defibrillator took place'' and "subsequently caused the death" of Hilton. The incident occurred inside an ambulance owned by Highlands Ambulance Service, which employed both individuals as EMTs, Mitchell said.

Martin was reportedly riding in the compartment of the ambulance located behind the driver and passenger seat where Hilton was sitting as the employees were traveling back to the ambulance service office.

Mitchell said Martin took a defibrillator paddle and placed it on Hilton's side, unknowingly sending electric currents into Hilton's body, causing burns and injuries to her side and shoulder.

After initial treatment at Russell County Medical Center that evening, Hilton was transported to Bristol Regional Medical Center, where she passed away on June 4.

An autopsy was performed on Hilton's body by the Virginia Medical Examiner's Office in Roanoke, but the results had not been made available as of Tuesday, said Mitchell.

The chief said a statement as to why Martin touched Hilton with the paddle was made following the incident but is not being released to the media at this time.

Ron Kendrick, Southwest Virginia field representative for the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Emergency Medical Service, said Tuesday his office is cooperating with law enforcement officials, and a state EMS investigation has been launched into the incident.

VDH representative Michael Berg said in a telephone interview from Richmond that because the case is still open, state regulations prohibit officials from commenting on the specifics of the case.

Martin is currently free after posting a $25,000 secured bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in Russell County General District Court on June 14.

If convicted, Martin could receive a sentence of up to 20 years in a state prison.

Now how stupid was the above.
This man will probably go to prison for trying to play a prank that went fatally wrong.
Yet to be an EMT you have to have some training and pass some pretty good test.
This shows how easy you can mess up your entire life in less than a heartbeat, or someone's else's or their family

[cats78]

That was very dumb.

and you think an EMT would know better?
I wish people would think before they act. Now that person's family has to suffer the loss because of a so-called prank...