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Health & Fitness

The Town Needs a Knapp Commission to Investigate Stratford EMS and PD

Time for a Knapp Commission group to look into what really goes on in the operation of Stratford EMS and the Stratford Police Department.

It is well past time that a Knapp Commission be moved into the town to investigate why there is so much secrecy both in the EMS operation and the police department.

Several months ago I made a request for Stratford EMS to go public with their run reports and other information which the public should have. Months later nothing. The so called head of the EMS operation, Philip Onofrio seem to be of the opinion that the less the town residents know what is going on with the EMS operation the better off they will be.

The answer I usually get when asking questions about the EMS operation is the famous words "rights of privacy of a patient." A town resident gets his or her name and address in the newspaper when arrested and Tasered by the town's Toma's de Torquemada.

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I believe the public has the right to know certain information about the EMS operation in town. The number of BLS (basic life support) ALS (advanced life support calls) and paramedic crews on duty for a 24 hour period and a seven day a week period. The nature of the calls medical, trauma, heart attack, breathing problems, accidents and slip and falls in private dwellings. Also the number of times mutual aid ambulances are called into the town because the EMS operation does not have a manned ambulance on duty or it is on a call.

Also, the number of times that Stratford EMS responds out of town to a mutual aid call from another city or town. Trumbull and Shelton both seem to use the town's EMS service on a regular basis. Who pays for those trips out of town and does that leave the town's citizens unprotected if there is a medical call??

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The Stratford Fire Service is also a medical first responder in town but there have allegedly been cases where the fire apparatus has been tied up with a victim far too long waiting for an out of town ambulance to respond. If this is to be believed, the town's central dispatch center (Fire Police and EMS in Fire Headquarters) does not have the software, hardware or people who have the training or the time to run such a report at the end of each week. The state of the dispatch center can not handle the request.

And yes, Virginia there is a Santa Clause, there is a bridge in Brooklyn N.Y. that is still for sale and the old standby, my dog ate my homework, applies.

I have said in the past that I do not want Stratford EMS crews within five feet of me if I have a medical emergency. Fact of the matter is, if I survive, only a 50% chance I will sue. Or if I do not make it, 50%. My friends will sue if the town's EMS lays a hand on me.

The regional medical control center (CMed) which controls EMS operations in the area does get some type of a report from Stratford and all of Stratford's calls are taped. Makes you wonder what they are keeping from the general public.

Then of course we have the town's version of the Toma's de Torquemada, also know as the . Their idea of community policing is the old Napoleonic code of you are guilty until your are proven innocent.

Fact of life, two police officers show up for every call from jaywalking to murder. This is for the protection of the single officer. Right, when the case goes to court you have the statements of TWO police officers against the poor little old lady jaywalker.

The members of the Torquemada also seem to feel they have the right to stop any citizen walking down the street for any reason and demand identification. The Constitution of the U.S. does give the citizen's of this town certain rights.

As far as I am concerned I have the right to refuse to identify my self, refuse to cooperate in any way or provide an any information they might request. The letter of the law is the police do need to give you the magic words "probable cause" before they drag you off to the cell block. If I feel they do not have probable cause, the only words out of my mouth are "my lawyer, a representative of the ACLU and a friend of mine from a NYC news crew."

Of course then there is the mystery of what goes on, or what does not go on during the midnight shift. Why do the occupants of the cruisers need awake up call at 6 a.m. This is actually a "roll call" I have been told. Right!!

Also while the police have two way radios, and an on board computer hooked to police headquarters, in their cars why do they need to use their cell phones while driving?? It is illegal for us poor citizens to text or talk when driving, yet I have watched the cops talking on the phone with one hand and driving down Main street with the other.

Is this a double standard? Yes. Does the town need a Knapp Commission? Yes. 

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