State board wants Sedgwick County EMS director investigated

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A state board wants the leader of the Sedgwick County Emergency Medical Services to be investigated over his handling of a suicide case in 2019, when a man who shot himself was not taken to a nearby hospital despite having a pulse and labored breathing, according to records.

The Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services also proposed disciplining seven Wichita-area emergency responders for their actions in the case, The Wichita Eagle reported.

The 31-year-old man shot himself at his apartment on June 19, 2019. He was left on the floor of his apartment for five hours as responders consulted with EMS Medical Director Dr. John Gallagher about his treatment.

Gallagher eventually went to the man’s home and determined he could not be saved. The man was taken to a hospice, where he died 10.5 hours after he shot himself, according to the EMS board’s summary proceeding order. The full report has not been released because the case is pending.

Sedgwick County spokeswoman Kate Flavin said in a news release that the county believes the man was given “competent and appropriate care.” The county and city of Wichita have hired an attorney to appeal the board’s decision.

The Sedgwick County Medical Society - a committee of physicians - also found the patient was handled appropriately.

The Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services, which licenses EMTs and paramedics across the state, said its protocol is to take a patient who is breathing or has a heart beat to an emergency room.

Three Sedgwick County paramedics and four Wichita Fire Department employees were cited for unprofessional conduct, failing to provide adequate care and failing to follow protocol. They could be suspended, fined or have their licenses revoked by the Kansas Board of EMS. They have filed an appeal and remain employed by the city and county.

Gallagher is not facing disciplinary action. The Kansas Board of EMS is asking the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, which licenses physicians in Kansas, to investigate his conduct.

Gallagher declined to comment when the Eagle contacted him last week.

In a 2019 interview, he said he didn’t think it was the right thing to do to “simply load him up and throw him in the hospital. And (the responders) correctly believed that what he needed was end of life care.”