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SC EMT fined, suspended for posting photo of deceased patient to social media

Trevor Sizemore photographed a victim at the scene he responded to, then uploaded it to Facebook

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Trevor Sizemore responded to the call of someone with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He later took a photo of the victim and uploaded the photo to Facebook without obscuring the victim’s face.

Photo/Trevor Sizemore Facebook

By EMS1 Staff

GREENWOOD COUNTY, S.C. — An EMT was fined and stripped of his licensing for one year after it was discovered he had taken a photo of a person who died by suicide while on a call and posted it to social media.

The New York Post reported that Trevor Sizemore responded to the call of someone with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He later took a photo of the victim and uploaded the photo to Facebook without obscuring the victim’s face.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) Board began investigating after learning of the incident in March 2018. The board ruled this week that Sizemore had “committed misconduct by failing to comply with the confidentiality provisions of the state EMS Act, which state that the identity of a patient must be treated as confidential.”

Sizemore was fined $500 and his EMT license is suspended for three months. He is also required to take a NAEMT Principles of Ethics and Personal Leadership course within the next year.