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.