'They failed to help’: Cops ‘withheld’ information from EMTs who were fired for delayed Tyre Nichols response
Warning: Extreme graphic content, readers’ discretion advised
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE: Following Tyre Nichols's brutal thrashing, the cops who called for medical assistance allegedly "withheld" information from the EMTs, stated a letter from the head of the union representing most of the Memphis fire department. In a letter to city council members, President of the Memphis Fire Fighters Association Thomas Malone highlighted the three EMTs who were fired were not provided with adequate information to aid Tyre Nichols.
All three medics, Robert Long, JaMichael Sandridge, and Lt. Michelle Whitaker, were fired following a department investigation into their reckless response to Nichols's tragic condition on January 7. One of the board members said, "They failed to provide that help,” adding, “They were his best shot, and they failed to help,” reported New York Post. Nichols succumbed to his injuries in the hospital and died three days later, on January 10.
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This brutal footage shows MPD officers punching, beating and repeatedly pepper-spraying Tyre Nichols while he’s helpless on the ground. pic.twitter.com/3fgjuuHRpe
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) January 28, 2023
Who is Thomas Malone?
Thomas Malone is the President and Union head of the Memphis Fire Fighters Association. He noted the EMTs weren’t given the information they needed to adequately respond to the call for medical help. Malone wrote that “there is no way any member could be truly prepared for a situation that occurred on January 7, 2023″ in the letter to the lawmakers. “Our members were not given adequate information upon dispatch or upon arrival of the scene." The department highlighted they received a call from police for a man who had been pepper-sprayed.
“Quite frankly, there was information withheld by those already on the scene which caused our members to handle things differently than they should have,” he said. The five Black officers who fatally beat Nichols to death at a traffic stop were charged with second-degree murder. The medical team was also heavily criticized for their lack of intervention. One of the board members said it was “obvious to even a lay person” that Nichols “was in terrible distress and needed help,” reported the source.
'They failed to help'
“They failed to provide that help,” the board member Sullivan Smith said. “They were his best shot, and they failed to help.” Long and Sandridge “failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols,” based on the information they had received from police. Surveillance footage showed the medics team waiting for 19 minutes before attending to impaired Nichols.
Following the aftermath, Long and Sandridge had their professional licenses suspended by a state medical board. Whitaker remained in the department vehicle, the statement said. It was only after 27 minutes that Nichols was taken away in an ambulance. “They were reacting to what they saw, what they were told at the scene,” Memphis Fire Chief Gina Sweat recently told city council members. “Obviously, they did not perform at the level that we expect, or that the citizens of Memphis deserve.”