The Tennessee Emergency Services Board unanimously suspended the licenses of two emergency medical technicians who responded to the scene and failed to provide aid to critically injured Tyre Nichols after Memphis police beat him on Jan. 7, leading to his death three days later.
The board voted during a virtual meeting Friday to suspend the licenses of JaMichael Sandridge and Robert Long for failing to give medical attention to Nichols as he lay on the ground for about 20 minutes following a beating issued by five Memphis police officers, who have been charged with murder and other crimes relating to the incident.
"I think it's pretty obvious," one member of the board said, supporting his vote to take action against the EMTs. "When you stand around for that many minutes and don't render care, that's a violation of our regulations and a violation of the oath we take."
Nichols, 29, was pulled over for a traffic violation that led to a violent confrontation with the officers.
He was transported to a hospital with critical injuries suffered during the beating and died three days later.
State Public Health Department General Counsel Matthew Gibbs told the board that Nichols appeared in videos of the event to be "clearly in distress" as the EMTs stood by, not checking his vital signs, giving him intravenous fluids or oxygen, or examining his injuries at the scene in line with regulations.
"Neither Mr. Sandridge or Mr. Long engaged in a primary or secondary examination. Vital signs were not taken. A full head-to-toe examination did not occur."
Both Sandridge and Young, along with Memphis Fire Department Lt. Michelle Whitaker, who remained in the responding vehicle with the driver, were fired by the department on Monday, Reuters reported.
In addition to the five officers criminally charged in the case, Memphis police relieved two other officers that responded to the scene from duty pending an internal investigation, the report said. One was fired yesterday.
Two Shelby County Sheriff's deputies also were taken off duty Jan. 27, pending an investigation by that agency related to the case.
"Having watched the videotape for the first time tonight, I have concerns about two deputies who appeared on the scene following the physical confrontation between police and Tyre Nichols," Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said in a statement. "I have launched an internal investigation into the conduct of these deputies to determine what occurred and if any policies were violated. Both of these deputies have been relieved of duty pending the outcome of this administrative investigation."
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