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Fire department employees feel the heat of investigations
By DAVE SHELTON
| Article published on Thursday, June 29, 2006 |
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CLEARWATER – One firefighter paramedic is out of work and a deputy chief was reprimanded after two unrelated internal investigations of the city’s Fire Rescue Department during the past 10 days.
In one case, a paramedic was fired over his apparent attempts to cover up errors that could have cost a local businessman his life. Reports show firefighter paramedic Dwayne Vaughn was unable to restart the victim’s heart because his portable defibrillator’s batteries were dead.
In the other case, investigators are trying to determine who implanted pornography on the personal computer of a city fire chief. Division Chief Richard Riley was reprimanded for bringing in an unprotected personal laptop computer to the department for city use involving training programs.
Termination was effective June 28 for Vaughn, 47, over the death of Thomas C. Tipton, 34, of Tampa. Vaughn, a 23-year veteran and other firefighters were called to Clearwater Beach at midnight on April 5. Tipton, according to police reports, had fallen unconscious after being Tasered and handcuffed by Clearwater police on a drunk and disorderly charge.
Vaughn’s record indicates they found Tipton unconscious, had no pulse and wasn’t breathing. When Vaughn tried to use a heart monitor, defibrillator, he found the battery was dead.
Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation was started and another fire rescue vehicle was dispatched to deliver a spare battery for the defibrillator, according to the official report.
When the unit’s battery was replaced, the monitor recorded no pulse and, with CPR still under way, Tipton was rushed to Morton Plant Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Actions of the police officers were reviewed by the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office and no charges were filed against the officers over Tipton’s death.
However, a review by the city’s medical director’s found Vaughn had violated public confidence by not having a working defibrillator and his paramedic license was permanently revoked.
This alone, said city spokesman Doug Matthews, was enough for Vaughn to be terminated. But, a city investigation also raised questions about the paramedics’ conflicting statements and altered report of the incident, raising questions about his temerity.
Firefighter offended
The city’s Human Resources department launched a pornography investigation on June 14 after Lt. Anna Rowell reported that she had seen pornography on a computer in the fire station. Doug Matthews, the city’s public communications director, said no formal complaint was filed, but an investigation was launched.
“We immediately seized the computer and interviewed everyone who had access to it,” he said. It was determined that the assistant fire chief had brought his personal computer from home because he saw the need for a computer the city wouldn’t buy.
Deputy Division Chief Richard Riley, in charge of departmental training, said he brought the computer to work shortly after being hired in May 2005. He said it was a computer he had used in his private business and that he left it in the department’s training center for use by firefighters so he didn’t have to provide the city’s laptop he kept in his office.
The investigation revealed that the pornography was downloaded from the Internet on April 3, 2006, according to a report of the investigation. On that date, someone accessed an Internet site that automatically downloaded pornographic material through a virus, according to the report.
Records on the computer also showed that it had been used to access possibly X-rated Web sites a number of times after regular business hours during the past three months.
“Regardless of the good intentions on his part, Fire Division Chief Riley should not have brought a personal laptop computer in to the City of Clearwater workplace and made it available to be used for city business,” the report concluded.
“It does not appear that Chief Riley engaged in any inappropriate activity with respect to the use of the personal computer. It should also be noted that the act of bringing a personal computer in to the workplace is not in itself a violation of any existing city policy or procedure.
“However, the fact that the computer was made widely available to almost anyone who knew where it was located created an opportunity for inappropriate material to be downloaded onto the computer where it could be encountered and found offensive by anyone using the computer.”
A written reprimand was issued and placed in Riley’s personnel records. Matthews said it may be difficult to determine who downloaded the pornography.
The city fire department has been dealing with problems for the past year including allegations of sex discrimination, misappropriation of controlled drugs, paramedics not responding to an emergency call and firefighters unhappy with Fire Chief Jamie Geer’s leadership.
Geer wouldn’t comment on details of the most recent allegation.
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Article published on Thursday, June 29, 2006
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