The move comes as two Aurora paramedics face felony charges for giving Elijah McClain, an unarmed, innocent Black man, an overdose of ketamine, in part, because they believed he was suffering from the condition.
Colorado’s law enforcement officers will no longer recognize “excited delirium” after a state regulatory board voted to strike the controversial diagnosis on Friday from all training documents starting in January.
The move, which was passed at the state Peace Officers Standards and Training board meeting unanimously and without debate, comes as two Aurora paramedics face felony charges for giving Elijah McClain, an unarmed, innocent Black man, an overdose of ketamine, in part, because they believed he was suffering from the condition.
Technically EMS doesn't diagnose. We assess and treat symptoms to keep the patient stable until we can get them to a medical facility. Of course there are things that are blindingly easy to diagnose and generally most doctors won't tell you "you can't diagnose that open femur fracture, that's my job". But officially the line has always been that we don't diagnose so when we are recording and reporting things we will typically say something like "the patient is showing symptoms of XYZ" rather than "the patient has XYZ".
When it comes to dealing with police officially they are the only people that can involuntarily commit someone (at least in my area). And officially EMS has to respect that decision however that doesn't always happen. There used to be a cop in my area that used to try to do that to anyone who "was problematic" and that officer got really used to hearing no from EMS. Other times EMS works with police is when there is a danger on the scene. For example if you're called out for a gunshot wound and it is suspected that the gunman is still there then you don't go in. You stage a block or two away and let the blue canaries clear the place first.
McClain was catatonic and not speaking at that time, but law enforcement officers can be heard on body-worn cameras telling the medics that he was exhibiting “crazy” strength and that he nearly did a push-up with all three officers holding him down at one time.
It's amazing what feats the human body can perform when trying to save its own life. A shame these folks were so determined to kill him. Don't listen to the audio from the bodycam on this one or read a transcript unless you want to weep for the cruel loss of a gentle soul.
When someone dies and police are involved the officers should be arrested and held with pay until we know it wasn't police brutality or other foul play on their part
Good. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless. The more we can prevent made up conditions like "excited delirium" from being used, the more protected we can be from police abuse.
Dumb knee jerk reaction. Having said that, cops are not medical personnel and do not have the training to identify ExDS compared to other presentations and uncooperative behavior.
They should not be calling any behavior that. They should just say the jumbject displayed hostile behavior and did xyz.
EMS has to get better about ketamine doses and when to use K verses just versed.
Excited Delirium is not a real condition and was made up by police to give themselves an excuse to use excessive force on someone the police deem as standard uncooperative
Excited Delerium doesn't exist. No actual medical body recognizes it as an actual disorder. It is a term coined solely by police to give an excuse for why someone died in their care.
So weird to think someone would be put into the position that they need to administer benzos to someone because they're in danger of violence from the cops for not promptly complying