Opinion ID: 785861
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Ensuing Investigations

Text: 26 Several state and local agencies investigated the events surrounding Mr. Rivas's death. One such investigation was conducted by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (the Health Department), which oversees the provision of basic life support services by EMTs. The Health Department reviewed the actions taken by Rodriguez and Garcia and ultimately determined that the care they provided to Mr. Rivas deviated significantly from acceptable EMT-B practice. The Health Department cited five instances of Rodriguez and Garcia's failure to follow proper procedure. They were: (1) placing Mr. Rivas face down in the stretcher; (2) not properly restraining him in the stretcher; (3) carrying him down the stairs head first; (4) failing to take adequate spinal immobilization precautions after Mr. Rivas fell from the stretcher; and (5) not properly completing a patient care report. The Health Department concluded that these five deviations collectively demonstrate[d] incompetence or inability to provide adequate basic life support services in violation of N.J.A.C. 8:40A-9.6(a)(1), and it placed Garcia and Rodriguez on provisional status for six months. 27 A separate investigation was led by the Internal Affairs Division (Internal Affairs) of the Passaic Police Department. After interviewing a number of witnesses and reviewing various reports and dispatch tapes, Internal Affairs concluded that the level of force used by the police officers appeared to have been reasonable and did not appear to be excessive. In reaching that conclusion, Internal Affairs noted that the Medical Examiner's report contained no findings that suggested excessive force had been used. 28 With respect to the EMTs, Internal Affairs concluded that Rodriguez had panicked and misleadingly told the police officers that Mr. Rivas had attempted to choke her, when in fact he had merely touched her shoulder. Internal Affairs also faulted the EMTs for not furnishing the police officers with adequate medical information about Mr. Rivas's condition and for allowing the police to take control of the scene. 29 The report issued by Internal Affairs also addressed the allegation that one of the police officers had struck Mr. Rivas in the head with a flashlight. The report noted that this allegation first surfaced when Internal Affairs interviewed Rodriguez and Garcia, but that neither of them had mentioned a blow to Mr. Rivas's head in their initial written reports or interviews with the Health Department. Based on those omissions and the fact that Mrs. Rivas did not see the officers strike her husband, Internal Affairs concluded that Rodriguez and Garcia had fabricated that allegation in order to shift the burden away from the EMT's and onto the police personnel.