The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "paramedics" ...
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Parking Patients
"Parking Patients" examined the amount of time hospitals in the Memphis area were taking to assume custody of patients brought to their emergency departments by city ambulances. In hundreds of cases we found patients were spending hours strapped to ambulance stretchers, waiting inside emergency departments for hospital staff to sign off on the transfer of care. In the meantime, city paramedics were tied up waiting with the patients and unavailable to answer other emergency calls. We found dozens of cases in the last year in which the city ran out of available ambulances to answer these calls, and had to rely on private companies to fill the gap, sometimes resulting in longer response times. The fire department blamed these shortages on the practice of hospitals using paramedics as "free labor."
Tags: broadcast; hospitals; paramedics; patients; waiting; ambulances
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Code 3
"Code 3" focused on ambulance delays in San Francisco and provided a rare glimpse inside an inherently complex and often secretive bureaucracy. The project began as a two-day series and continued with several follow-up reports. Paramedics and quality control experts say the city does not have enough ambulances and needs to hire more paramedics. A history of tensions between paramedics and firefighters, and a lack of coordination between the Fire Department, the Department of Emergency Management and the Public Health Department, continues to undercut the city's 911 medical responses and the quality of care. The city does not collect sufficient data on 911 responses to fully audit ambulance delays, examine particular treatments and learn from clinical mistakes
Tags: ambulances; emergency response; San Francisco; first responders; fire department; department of emergency management; public health department
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State of Emergency
The story revealed how, for the past decade, Denver Health has been able to systematically lobby the Mayor's office to lower the ambulance response time standards in the operating agreement the hospital keeps with the city. Even as call volume has increased significantly year by year, the contractual changes have enabled the hospital to stay in response time compliance without adding more paramedics and ambulances. This series also showed how the hospital was deleting a key chunk of call duration from the figures being reported to the city, in violation of the municipal agreement. The city's actual ambulance response times vastly underperform nationally accepted standards. Veteran Denver Health paramedics say the increasing delays in emergency response have dire consequences.
Tags: ambulance response times; municipal agreement; ambulances; Denver; hospital; slow ambulance response
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Troubled Rescuers
A number of Californian paramedics were found to be turning to drugs and alcohol because they were over stressed. This lead them to endanger patients and commit crimes. Even after being caught, overview was lax. Paramedics were also found to bye "cheating and committing fraud in obtaining and renewing their state licenses.
Tags: paramedic; health; emergency medical technician; State Fire Marshal; Emergency Medical Services Authority; California; drug abuse; alcohol
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Every Second Counts
An analysis of 911 dispatch calls of Pompano Beach showed paramedics were responding to emergency medical calls slower than the national standard of six minutes or less in the areas of the city where the poorest and most elderly residents live.
Tags: Paramedics; response; fire dispatch; 911 call; medical emergency; elderly; poverty
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Firefighters Under Fire
This three part series investigates the San Francisco Fire Department based on information revealed from unnamed firefighters. In "Light Duty", hidden cameras show one officer works just 16 hours a week at his full time job, but still gets paid for 40 hours. Other light duty-or injured firefighters-get paid to watch for alarms, a job that could be eliminated and save tax dollars if the system was automated. Light duty officers are supposed to be restricted to one year of this recovery work, but this rule was not enforced. "Fire Raid" shows alcohol and drug use are problems at fire stations. One officer was found on duty with a blood alcohol level above the accepted limit and another tested positive for marijuana. A third officer drove a fire truck while taking medication that warns against operating hazardous machinery. In "EMS Mistake", the paramedic team is accused of not following protocol in response to an accident and causing the victim to be paralyzed. The investigation finds that other on-going investigations accuse paramedics of assault and even leaving a live woman for dead.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; FOIA; sunshine law; firefighter; fire department; EMS; emergency medical service; hidden camera; light duty; drugs; alcohol; marijuana
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6 Minutes to Live or Die
This story investigates the loss of life across the United States as a result of failing emergency medical services. Davis uses a variety of examples to illustrate that people who suffer from cardiac arrest can be saved as long as an ambulance can reach them in time. He writes, "hundreds of people die needlessly each year because some cities fail to make basic, often inexpensive changes in the way they deploy ambulances, paramedics, and fire trucks." There is a helpful illustration of a United States map, with rankings of different cities across the nation and how they measure up when it comes to emergency response time.
Tags: emergency medical srevices; emergency response time; defibrillator; CPR; cardiac arrest
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Presumed Dead
The topic of this story began when a local Marine, just returning from Iraq, was involved in a fatal car accident. The other drivers suffered minor injuries, but the corporal's truck was severely damaged. While waiting for paramedics, witnesses found the man breathing, but could not find a pulse. When the police arrived, they presumed the man to be dead because he did not have a pulse, and would not let paramedics work on him, fearing it would disrupt the crime scene. Two hours later the paramedic noticed the man was still breathing, and had him flown to the nearest hospital, where he died in the emergency room. Reporters discovered that there's no Michigan law that says every victim has to be physically checked by a paramedic before the paramedic leaves the scene. Also, there is not a law which says a paramedic must physically check a victim before pronouncing them dead.
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Mask Confusion
Indiana began buying equipment after 911 that would protect police, firefighters, and medics from a weapon of mass destruction. In a statewide investigation, WISH-TV showed that the state purchased gas masks that put first responders in danger. They proved the state broke both state and federal laws by even making the decision on what masks to buy. First responders admitted they did not want to wear the masks because they would not protect them. Some of the comments include: "I want the better mask", "We're going to get first responders hurt or killed." The investigation prompted the state to reconsider the multi-million dollar purchase and return the gas masks.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; police; firefighters; paramedics; weapon of mass destruction; gas masks; OSHA; U.S. Department of Justice; emergency rescue; mustard gas; silicone mask; butyl mask; Biological weapons; chemical weapons; nuclear weapons; U.S. Army's Dugway; Tipecanoe County; Marion County; respiratory hazard
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Unsafe Saviors
This story looks at how there are no safeguards against accidents caused by ambulances. As this reporter investigates, the ambulances are not put through severe tests before they are put on the road, nor are the drivers given enough training. In fact, the investigation found that people have a higher risk of being harmed in a an ambulance crash than in other vehicle accidents.
Tags: ambulances; ambulance accidents; ambulance crashes; risk of accidents in ambulances; paramedics; hospitals; vehicle accidents