A man’s dispute with a local firefighter has apparently stalled out after the Fire Commission ruled that nothing improper took place when the employee responded to medical calls.
Russell Acantilado, Hamakua, filed a complaint with the fire commission about two incidents, one on Dec. 8, 2015, and one on Jan. 31.
He said medics left him when he was in distress one time, and then retaliated against him after he filed a complaint — although the investigating body didn’t see it that way.
“I was abandoned by the Honokaa Fire Department in severe pain,” he said during a recent hearing on the complaint before the Fire Commission.
Initially, the complaint was considered “unfounded,” which the commission defines as “the complaint was not based on facts or the incident complained of did not occur.” But after the medical records were submitted and a re-investigation occurred, the commission changed it to exonerated, which the council defines as “the incident occurred, but was lawful and proper.”
Board president David de Luz said he could not comment about the investigation or the executive session held over the matter.
The complaint stems from an incident in December, when Acantilado began to feel ill and made his way to the fire station. He said a firefighter had him sit down for 15 minutes to allow his blood pressure to even out. One of the crew, he said, began to take his blood pressure when a call came over the radio. Acantilado said the medic called the firefighter away.
“He saw me puking on the table and he left,” Acantilado told the commission.
He said he waited a short time before walking through the unlocked firehouse, thinking that someone might be present. He did not find any one there. He was ultimately taken to the hospital in a private vehicle. His medical records show he told staff he was suffering from chest pain, nausea, vomiting and shortness of breath.
The doctor found he was dehydrated and he had high levels of creatine kinase, a protein released during muscle injury that can lead to kidney failure. For treatment they provided him two liters of fluid intravenously.
Acantilado’s complaint to the commission initially lacked medical documentation, which he then provided at the April 5 meeting, and relaunched the internal investigation. He also provided copies to West Hawaii Today.
That hearing also dealt with another, later incident.
On Jan. 31, Acantilado had what he calls a near-fainting episode, which caused him to fall to the ground. But when he discovered the same medic he had complained about was responding, he attempted to sign himself out, which he said the medic refused to allow.
He said he believed the firefighter rolled him aggressively on a backboard and tightened a neck brace until he thought he was choking.
“He flipped me over and threw me on the board,” he said, forcefully enough to re-injure the spinal injury the medic apparently believed he had.
When he arrived at the ER, the doctor noted that there was no pain in Acantilado’s neck or spine.
“He was alert and coherent, and backboard and C-collar were removed by me by exam,” the doctor wrote.