SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento Fire Department captain was fired two years ago after a patient died following a call for service.
In a June 2021 letter sent to Jeffrey Klein, the fire department alleged he failed to provide rapid and effective treatment for a man experiencing low blood sugar and recklessly misjudged the seriousness of the condition.
Fire crews responded to the medical call on Feb. 25, 2020. Klein was the captain in charge.
According to the department's termination letter, Klein and crew waited outside for assistance from police after seeing the patient showing erratic behavior. Police eventually arrived to help restrain the man.
After the man was restrained, fire personnel gave the man a shot, and not long afterward, the man stopped moving and didn't appear to be breathing, according to the department.
In the fire department's letter, they said crews did not check the man's breathing even after a concerning question from his mother, who he lived with. He was placed on a gurney and brought to an ambulance about 10 minutes after he was initially restrained.
At that point, paramedics said the man wasn't breathing and tried to save his life, but the man would later die.
The letter cited experts who said the man went into respiratory or cardiac arrest after receiving the injection and that he wasn't appropriately checked for breathing.
The fire department also alleged Klein failed to appropriately monitor the person from a distance while waiting for police assistance, failed to manage and direct medical treatment, failed to ensure a thorough assessment and proper treatment, and recklessly misjudged the seriousness of the man's condition.
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