By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First
The chief of Vermont Emergency Medical Services is on leave from her state job after she arrived at a St. Albans hospital to help transport a patient and appeared to have been under the influence of alcohol, officials said.
Bambi Dame, in her capacity as a paramedic member of Fairfax Rescue, arrived at Northwestern Vermont Medical Center in St. Albans to help transfer a cardiac patient to the UVM Medical Center in Burlington about 7 p.m. Friday, officials said.
“Hospital staff noted Paramedic Dame appeared to be impaired. After an evaluation, Ms. Dame was determined to not be fit to perform her duties,” Vermont Health Department spokesman Ben Truman said.
Dame, formerly of Alburgh, is on leave while the Vermont Health Department conducts its review, he said.
She is now at least the third Vermont official in the past month to face allegations of being impaired while on the job. A state prosecutor and a state legislator are facing charges of driving while intoxicated.
“While no laws appear to have been broken, unprofessional conduct by an EMS professional is a violation of the EMS Rules in place to ensure patient safety in a prehospital setting,” Truman said.
The preliminary report indicated that Dame did not engage in direct patient care, nor did she operate the ambulance, Truman said.
He said the Health Department’s Office of Emergency Medical Services suspended Dame’s state EMS license effective Saturday.
In addition, EMS District 1, which covers Franklin County and the town of Alburgh, suspended Dame’s privilege to practice, also effective Saturday, he said.
It is unclear if Friday was a regular workday for her state job and when she would have gotten off the clock.
Repeated attempts by Vermont News First since Sunday to reach Dame by phone and text messages were unsuccessful.
St. Albans Police Chief Maurice Lamothe said Monday that a city officer did respond to the Emergency Room on Friday evening for a report of an impaired ambulance squad member.
The chief said police could not take any action because there was no evidence that Dame had operated any motor vehicles. It was left in the hands of Northwestern hospital staff and Fairfax Rescue to resolve.
Officials said they were unable to say if Dame had arrived at the hospital in the ambulance or got a ride, or if she had driven herself to the Fairfax Rescue garage.
Jonathan Billings, NMC’s chief operating officer, said early indications are that the hospital staff acted appropriately when facing the issue.
An emergency room doctor was credited with calling the police.
Dame was removed from the transport call and remained at the hospital until a ride could be secured for her, officials said.
The other two state officials that are facing claims of being under the influence while on the job are Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos and State legislator James Carroll of Bennington.
Vekos has pleaded not guilty to a charge of driving while under the influence on Jan. 25. Vermont State Police arrested Vekos after she appeared at a homicide scene in Bridport on Jan. 25.
Carroll, D-Bennington was processed for suspicion of DUI when he pulled into a state parking lot beside the Statehouse shortly before 8:30 a.m. last Wednesday. Carroll is due in Vermont Superior Court in Barre next month, but has said, through another Bennington County legislator, that he does not plan to contest the criminal charge.
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Categories: State Government
vermont is a drunk state walking///
Praying for the best outcome for Bambi Dame. She has an enormously challenging job. The stress has to be unrelenting. Thankfully she has the presumption of innocence. Vermont EMS can’t afford to lose highly qualified people like her.
Well, if she’s a registered democrat, she’ll be fine, keep her job and this will never be spoken of again. If she’s a registered republican, we’ll, God help her….
Fortunately for her, In Vermont there is no such thing as party registration.
As long as she didn’t have a MAGA hat in the car or other outward sign of her not being a loyal democrat, she can always claim a substance abuse victimhood to mitigate the trouble.
Looking at the state of politics in Vermont of late, makes sense many of those in charge are alcohol impaired………….
Excessive drinking and driving is never, never, never acceptable. But maybe the blood alcohol levels need to be reexamined as too strict. When I got my license in 1964, there was a lot of drinking and smoking, not much pot. Today it is the opposite. Maybe some problems we have today are because of that shift.
Impaired is impaired regardless of the means and methods to get there
No BS about stressful job. If this is true, Bambi Dame, exercised very poor judgement, and was so impaired that she seemingly had no knowledge of her impaired state (a likely sign of a likely alcoholic). Kudos to the ED Doc for calling the police and for removing Bambi Dame from having patient contact. Don’t kid yourself, that Transferring Hospital MD/DO, and that Transferring Hospital, would have been on the hoc, from a liability perspective, under the Federal EMTALA law, if Bambi Dame was a member of the crew that transferred the patient, and something bad happened. Imagine what the patient might have thought if he/she detected that the person caring for him/her was under the influence of alcohol.
Now, as for the Democratic Rule, in Vermont, Bambi Dame will likely be directed to a Detox Program, and returned to her job, with sympathy. Then, will come a White Wash, by the many drunks in leadership positions in Vermont.
Emergency Medical personnel are specifically trained to refuse to respond if they have been drinking or are otherwise under the influence. She needs to be held responsible if she was impaired. Remember, she has the responsibility to pass judgement on EMS personnel reported to her office for a possible issue.
EMS personnel are specifically trained to refuse to respond on any call if they have been drinking alcohol or taking any other substance. Since she is the one who would make a determination on punishment for any EMT in a similar situation, she must be investigated and held responsible. She doesn’t have any excuse.
How to succeed in Vermont’s current state of the State….drink more, care less – or buy and smoke the super potent weed if you pass the background check….Carry on!