Arbitrator Rules For Paramedic In Call Dispute, Finding Ocean City Used ‘Wrongful Disciplinary Action’

OCEAN CITY — The resort’s Fire/EMS union this week wants to use a favorable arbitration ruling in a disciplinary action against a paramedic for a delayed response last summer as leverage in the ongoing debate about the elimination of the 24-hour shifts, but city officials are saying not so fast.

Last July, a three-member paramedic team did not immediately respond to an early morning call involving an assault victim at a mid-town nightclub, triggering a one-day suspension without pay for the crew’s only full-time paramedic. According to the agreed upon facts in the case, the first call came in at 1:36 a.m. and was not immediately answered by the Paramedic 3 team. A second call came in at 1:45 a.m. and the Paramedic 3 team did respond.

However, the response was nearly 10 minutes later, or well outside requisite two-minute response time. The fire department disciplined Firefighter-Paramedic Mark Lloyd, the only full-time member of the crew. The other crew members were part-time employees and not subject to discipline under the collective bargaining agreement. The fire department contended the three-member crew slept through the initial call, while the paramedics contended they never received the first call at 1:36 a.m. through the usual protocols including a radio, pagers and a station alert loudspeaker. This week, neutral arbitrator Homer La Rue ruled in favor of the paramedics, essentially opining the outdated call alert system failed and was responsible for the delayed response and cleared Lloyd of any wrongdoing.

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