The Associated Press
ELLENVILLE, N.Y. — An upstate New York volunteer rescue squad organization is facing criticism for suspending a paramedic who broke the rules when he drove a 4-year-old girl to a hospital after she began having seizures.
The Times Herald-Record of Middletown reports that 20-year-old Stephen Sawyer took the girl to the Ellenville hospital on Dec. 11 when no other ambulance crews were available. The Ellenville First Aid and Rescue Squad’s rules require that its ambulance drivers be at least 21.
When the organization’s board voted to suspend him, Sawyer resigned.
Sawyer says he has experience driving ambulances for a commercial paramedic service.
Rescue squad officials say their rules regarding ambulance drivers are consistent with other rescue squads in the region
Most of the hundreds of comments posted on social media support Sawyer and criticize the board’s actions.