Why don't cops render first aid to suspects?

Visbek said:

1) They are trying to secure the scene

2) Adrenaline rush = not exactly attentive to injured suspect, can result in ignoring the harm

3) It is one more thing they have to do

4) Most of the time, they'd have to work on gunshot wounds; that is not standard First Aid and requires speciality training (which is easy to forget if you don't do it all the time)

5) Lots of officers get First Aid training once, with few repeats

6) It's not policy

7) They don't have the proper equipment (esp. for gunshot wounds)

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/u...g-in-the-moments-after-a-police-shooting.html

Click to expand...

This right here. Especially secure the scene.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Crosscheck said:

People attempting to give aid are protected by the Good Samaritan law which offer legal protection to people who give reasonable assistance to those who are, or who they believe to be, injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise incapacitated.

I can't believe the police don't have some emergency training as they sometimes are the first one on to an injured person. As Backpacker stated above about the great training the FD has, I would be shocked if there isn't some type of emergency medical training for the police.

Click to expand...

Training is irrelevant without the proper equipment. Even paramedics don't treat the wound. They stabilize and get them to doctors. The cops aren't going to have the right equipment.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Goshin said:

Liability issues mainly.


I've been out of LE a rather long time so I don't know what current policy is, and no doubt it varies from dept to dept, but liability is probably at the root of it.


TMK every police officer receives training and certs in CPR and First Aid. If you're certified, then once you begin treatment on an individual you are LIABLE for proper care.


Problem is, having a first aid and cpr course at the Academy and an occasional refresher does NOT make you an EMT or a Paramedic. Rendering medical aid is not the primary mission of most LE agencies. You really don't get enough training and practice to be actually competent at it.


Thus, the liability risks are high. I imagine some dept's discourage rendering first aid if EMS is one the way for this reason.

Click to expand...

I would think the Good Samaritan law would hold back the pack of vicious pit bulls known as lawyers.

Don't expect a police officer to be a paramedic but they should know basic CPR and how to apply a compress for bleeding. As a matter of fact everyone should know those.

Often a police officer may be one of the first to a motor vehicle accident and should be able to offer some aid once the scene is safe.

Crosscheck said:

I would think the Good Samaritan law would hold back the pack of vicious pit bulls known as lawyers.

Don't expect a police officer to be a paramedic but they should know basic CPR and how to apply a compress for bleeding. As a matter of fact everyone should know those.

Often a police officer may be one of the first to a motor vehicle accident and should be able to offer some aid once the scene is safe.

Click to expand...

Does anything hold lawyers back?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BrewerBob said:

Why aren't police required to render First Aid to suspects? I have seen it again and again and again and again and...

Police have an altercation with a suspect and the suspect is badly wounded, perhaps shot. The police handcuff the person (understandable) and then just leave the person there on the ground bleeding out for minutes. If a police officer walks up on a person who is NOT a suspect who is in immediate need of first aid the cop renders it until the paramedics show up.

Why is this allowed? People are bringing it up in regards to the Tulsa shooting but it happens ALL the time. Once the suspect has been subdued what is the reason for standing there watching them die while the ambulance en route? Cops are trained in first aid, after all.

Click to expand...

The simple answer is that they want them to die. Dead people do not testify.

jdog said:

The simple answer is that they want them to die. Dead people do not testify.

Click to expand...

Stated from someone that's never been a cop.

Brewdog said:

Stated from someone that's never been a cop.

Click to expand...

It is a true statement and you do not deny it.

BrewerBob said:

I can understand that but so often cops who weren't involved in the shooting or who show up before the ambulance do nothing either.

Click to expand...

kind of a conflict of interest isn't it

if one shoots and the other touches is it aid or is it checking things out in order to help things along in the right direction for the police...potential liabilities on both side I would think

jdog said:

The simple answer is that they want them to die. Dead people do not testify.

Click to expand...

Wrong.

Go watch the body cam of the uniformed officer on the scene of the Keith Scott shooting.... at the end you see he asks for someone to grab his bag so he can get some equipment to help stop the bleeding.

Of course.. why would he want to do such a thing?

Caine said:

Wrong.

Go watch the body cam of the uniformed officer on the scene of the Keith Scott shooting.... at the end you see he asks for someone to grab his bag so he can get some equipment to help stop the bleeding.

Of course.. why would he want to do such a thing?

Click to expand...

LOL LOL it is very easy for the criminals in blue to dub in some audio after the fact. The fact is they shot to death a man who was not a threat because he did not follow their orders to their liking. They are murderers. Altering evidence is childsplay after cold blooded murder.

Goshin said:

Liability issues mainly.


I've been out of LE a rather long time so I don't know what current policy is, and no doubt it varies from dept to dept, but liability is probably at the root of it.


TMK every police officer receives training and certs in CPR and First Aid. If you're certified, then once you begin treatment on an individual you are LIABLE for proper care.


Problem is, having a first aid and cpr course at the Academy and an occasional refresher does NOT make you an EMT or a Paramedic. Rendering medical aid is not the primary mission of most LE agencies. You really don't get enough training and practice to be actually competent at it.


Thus, the liability risks are high. I imagine some dept's discourage rendering first aid if EMS is one the way for this reason.

Click to expand...

A friend on the NYPD once commented to me that the extent of his medical training with regard to pregnant women giving birth - this was back in the day when a cop delivering a baby in NYC wasn't out of the ordinary - was basically "crouch down, catch and try not to drop the kid."

jdog said:

LOL LOL it is very easy for the criminals in blue to dub in some audio after the fact. The fact is they shot to death a man who was not a threat because he did not follow their orders to their liking. They are murderers. Altering evidence is childsplay after cold blooded murder.

Click to expand...

Any evidence of this altering evidence bull****?

Do you think rational people actually agree with the lunatic chit chat coming out of your brain?


The conspiracy theory thread is that way ------------------------------->>>

Caine said:

Any evidence of this altering evidence bull****?

Do you think rational people actually agree with the lunatic chit chat coming out of your brain?


The conspiracy theory thread is that way ------------------------------->>>

Click to expand...

You are delusional, cops do not care about saving the lives of people they have just emptied their clips into in a deliberate attempt to ensure they do not survive. Enjoy your delusional state, as the truth would undoubtedly destroy your illusions...

BrewerBob said:

Why aren't police required to render First Aid to suspects? I have seen it again and again and again and again and...

Police have an altercation with a suspect and the suspect is badly wounded, perhaps shot. The police handcuff the person (understandable) and then just leave the person there on the ground bleeding out for minutes. If a police officer walks up on a person who is NOT a suspect who is in immediate need of first aid the cop renders it until the paramedics show up.

Why is this allowed? People are bringing it up in regards to the Tulsa shooting but it happens ALL the time. Once the suspect has been subdued what is the reason for standing there watching them die while the ambulance en route? Cops are trained in first aid, after all.

Click to expand...

Because an individual can still be a threat for one, and second off there is no legal requirement to render first aid, and police officers are usually not licensed paramedics and thus could be sued for performing emergency aid for which they are not certified. A gunshot wound is different then a heart attack, rendering CPR to someone with a sucking chest wound is detrimental to their health, most police academies teach only basic first aid like CPR/AED etc which obviously is not applicable to a gunshot. There is also an unreasonable risk of being subject to bloodborne pathogens, which drug users (a primary source of suspects) are far more likely to have then the general population.

better to wait for professional paramedics to render aid then screw around with something you're not qualified to do. training to be a paramedic is longer then training for the police academy. For example, in Washington state to be certified as a paramedic you must undergo over 15 months of training, versus the Washington State Patrol Academy which is 24 weeks. you want to shovel out taxes to triple the length of police training and then pay all the $$$$$ it would require to outfit every patrol car with a decent Trauma kit? I have a medical bag in my car that is over 300 dollars of supplies, mulitply that by officers and then assume officers are using their supplies every day, that adds up. and a decent kit for patrol use would run probably over 1000 dollars. then police unions will say "We're now skilled workers so we're owed a massive raise, a year and a half of medical training means we're entitle to maybe 75K a year starting salary instead of 45K, all this to do what?

Crosscheck said:

I would think the Good Samaritan law would hold back the pack of vicious pit bulls known as lawyers.

Don't expect a police officer to be a paramedic but they should know basic CPR and how to apply a compress for bleeding. As a matter of fact everyone should know those.

Often a police officer may be one of the first to a motor vehicle accident and should be able to offer some aid once the scene is safe.

Click to expand...

please, I've been shot in the chest I will respectfully request you not go jamming on my heart, if cpr is your plan I'll take my chances with waiting for the ambulance.

for your reading enjoyment
cpr with bullet wound | Page 2 | EMTLife

It's probably a double-liability thing. You're liable for shooting them and then if you give first aid you're liable for saving their life.

Also it's a conflict of interest. If they die while you're giving first aid after having shot them then it could be said that you sabotaged their final moments of life when you could've waited for the experts to arrive.

Ikari said:

But essentially, the People are not considered human, just a perp, just a guy who needed to be shot for some reason, and then such flippant regard given to their humanity after being shot by government agent. However, we are no longer in a world where the government considers our humanity or dignity.

Click to expand...

This too.

BrewerBob said:

Why aren't police required to render First Aid to suspects? I have seen it again and again and again and again and....

Click to expand...

The cops are too busy high-fiving each other and sharing stories about the action?

Caine said:

Wrong.

Go watch the body cam of the uniformed officer on the scene of the Keith Scott shooting.... at the end you see he asks for someone to grab his bag so he can get some equipment to help stop the bleeding.

Of course.. why would he want to do such a thing?

Click to expand...

The guy owed him money, I heard.

Bodhisattva said:

The guy owed him money, I heard.

Click to expand...

True...

Scott bet the uniformed officer that the black officer wouldn't shoot him.

Scott lost.