Paramedics Who Worked on Elijah McClain Convicted

A verdict has come down on the charges against two Denver-area paramedics that could have far-reaching consequences in terms of how first responders treat patients moving forward.

The two paramedics who treated Elijah McClain have been found guilty of giving McClain a fatal dose of Ketamine.

This was the first of numerous cases that have been filed against first responders and will surely set a precedent to which those remaining cases will refer.

Guilty as Charged

Elijah McClain, who was 23 at the time of the incident, was in custody after police responded to a suspicious person call.

After being forcibly restrained, paramedics injected him with ketamine, a sedative, which was later cited as the cause of his death.

On Friday, the jury gave its verdict against Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, finding them guilty of negligent homicide, with both of them now facing the possibility of going to prison.

Cichuniec was also found guilty of second-degree assault, which means that he was immediately taken into custody by authorities.

University of Miami criminologist Alex Piquero commented on the possible repercussions of the outcome of this case, stating, “Imagine if you’re a paramedic. They could be hesitant. They could say, ‘I’m not going to do anything’ or ‘I’m going to do less. I don’t want to be found guilty.'”

We have already seen the impact of police officers being charged in cases that have impacted their decisions in the field, so I would imagine this will have a similar impact on paramedics responding to calls, especially with the attention this case has received nationwide.

It is a safe guess that first responders will be far more hesitant to administer medications in the field, worried that administering them could result in them doing prison time.

Sadly, that hesitation could create more loss of life when lives would have otherwise been saved.