A Bristol Township man is suing two emergency workers and their township rescue squad for negligence, claiming in a civil suit that the men allegedly dropped him on his head several times while carrying him on a stretcher.
Edward Hunt, a 47-year-old former handyman and construction worker who lives on Spruce Street in Winder Village, said he can no longer work because of a spinal injury.
He’s requesting a jury trial to determine if he should be paid damages. Hunt’s lawyer said he has incurred up to $40,000 in bills for medical care resulting from the injury.
Scott Bahner, chief of the Bucks County Rescue Squad, which is being sued, said his squad hasn’t been served with any lawsuit and, therefore, he couldn’t comment. The Courier Times was unsuccessful in reaching the EMT named in the suit, Mark Liczbinski, or the paramedic, Joseph Tomczak, for comment.
The rescue squad is a private entity and can be sued in Bucks County, unlike in Philadelphia, where rescue squads are immune from lawsuits.
According to the suit:
Tomczak and Liczbinski responded to a 911 call in July 2006. The caller stated that Hunt fell ill while helping a friend move. Hunt told the squad members he felt extremely hot and sick and then became nonresponsive to pain or verbal stimuli. The paramedics gave Hunt intravenous medication and oxygen. They put him on a canvas stretcher without a neck brace or collar to secure his neck.
As they carried Hunt down a stairway, they allegedly allowed Hunt’s head to hit the wall several times. They then allegedly dropped the stretcher, allowing Hunt’s head to hit the floor, causing Hunt to lose feeling in his body from the neck down. At Lower Bucks Hospital, doctors discovered a spinal cord injury and sent Hunt to Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia.
According to the suit, Hunt said he cannot properly use his right arm and often feels numbness and experiences other spinal problems. Hunt’s lawyer, Derek Layser, said besides coverage of the $40,000 in bills, the plaintiff wants future compensation for his inability to work.
Layser said no police report was filed regarding Hunt’s injuries that were allegedly caused by the rescue squad.