Reluctant To Transport?

Dec. 23--He signs his official correspondence as "Rescue Lt. Brad Tate."

But Tate isn't a typical Albuquerque Fire Department employee. A paramedic, he lives in Las Vegas, Nev., and Southwest Airlines also lists him as an employee.

On the Internet, he has been described as a medic, known as a "cut man," for professional mixed martial arts fighters, helping treat their fight-related cuts, nosebleeds and other injuries.

But it's his handling of rescue calls in Albuquerque that prompted AFD management to reassign him to administrative duties while the city investigates allegations involving his treatment of patients.

A Journal review of AFD emails and other city documents shows that Tate has been accused of ignoring serious health problems in people who called 911, being reluctant to transport patients to the hospital, bullying patients' families and rushing through a call involving a patient with chest pains because he needed to catch a plane.

His lawyer says the allegations are groundless and Tate says he is being discriminated against because he is African American.

"In fact," his attorney Michael Cadigan said in a statement, "Lt. Tate is guilty of nothing more than informing non-critical patients -- truthfully -- that if they take a $500 to $800 ambulance ride they will not be seen any more quickly at the Emergency Department than if their family members take them at no cost."

City records obt a i ned through the Inspection of Public Records Act show a series of complaints lodged against Tate by co-workers and the public since 2011.

For example, more than a year ago, a woman identified only as "Bernadette" called AFD to complain that Tate was rude. She had called for help after her brother had a "diabetic emergency and seizure," according to an AFD email.

But when Tate responded to the emergency call in August 2011, he said her brother's glucose level of 82 "was normal and that he didn't need treatment," the email stated.

That level was low for her brother and he needed sugar, the woman recalled telling Tate.

When an ambulance arrived to take her brother to the hospital, the woman reported to AFD, her brother "asked to hold Brad's hand while the IV was inserted and Brad said, 'I don't hold guys' hands.' "

It was another citizen complaint involving an emergency call in May that triggered the internal AFD inquiry.

In that complaint, Tate is accused of dismissing signs that a teenager's stomach pains might be serious. It turned out the girl had a ruptured appendix. Her family ended up taking her to the hospital after a disagreement with Tate over transporting her.

The family has filed a notice that they intend to sue the city for misdiagnosis "and/or lack of treatment."

City records show that the personnel inquiry has apparently expanded and involves allegations of medical malpractice, negligence and falsification of records.

After the inquiry began in late June, Tate was assigned to work in the fire administration offices, rather than handle 911 calls in the field.

City records show Tate believes that assignment is designed "to set me up for failure," according to a discrimination complaint he filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in October.

His attorney says Tate, who was promoted to lieutenant in 2011, has instead chosen to use annual leave. A hearing on his employment status is set for next month.

'I have a plane to catch'

Tate's behavior on a Nov. 15, 2011, emergency call led to an internal AFD email from AFD Lt. Matthew Carpentier to a captain in charge of quality improvement.

Carpentier, who was at the scene, said in the email that Tate was working the day shift and "had a plane flight he was trying to make." But, at about 4:30 p.m. that day, emergency crews were "dispatched to a 911 call about a patient experiencing chest pain while eating with his family."

All of the paramedics at the scene advised that the man be evaluated at the hospital, the email stated, and finally the patient agreed to go. But, as the patient was being helped to a gurney, Carpentier stated that Tate turned to "me at the front door and said 'I have to go. I have a plane to catch.' "

Carpentier, in the email, said he told Tate "we would leave as soon as possible." Then Carpentier got into the back of the ambulance with the patient, the ambulance crew, and with a U.S. Air Force student who was riding on the AFD unit to obtain clinical hours.

While attending to the patient, Carpentier said he saw Tate drive the AFD rescue unit to the rear of the ambulance where the patient and crew could see Tate "in the driver seat making arm gestures to hurry up." Carpentier said he told the crew he wanted to finish caring for the patient and "not to worry about Lt. Tate and his actions."

The "student and I got out and got in the rescue," the email continued. "This is when Lt. Tate started yelling at me telling me that he had to go and that I turned a 10A into a 10D, that I was at fault for him being late for his flight ... Tate was driving fast and dangerously and I asked him to slow down." Carpentier related that he told Tate that he wasn't trying to make him late and "that this was part of the job."

A 10A emergency call means "chest pain with patient breathing normally." A 10D call is a patient either not alert or having difficulty breathing and/or changing color and/or clammy.

The patient ultimately had a bypass operation, the email states.

According to Carpentier's email, Tate later sent him messages "telling me that I was right and that he handled the situation poorly."

Carpentier's email concluded by saying he discussed the incident with supervisors explaining that Tate "was not helpful, or engaged in any pt (patient) contact or care on all previous calls in this same shift period."

Serious allegations

The rescue incidents under scrutiny occurred "in and around" Jan. 1, May 1 and June 17 of this year, according to a Sept. 4 notice to Tate from AFD Deputy Chief Tige G. Watson, the department's deputy chief for human resources.

"These incidents may have resulted in the injury of a patient(s)," Watson's notice stated.

"During the preliminary investigation a comprehensive review of your reports was completed ... Many of your reports were found to be lacking in information and or information may have been misrepresented. ... As a licensed paramedic, you are required to render treatment appropriate to your level of training and document such treatment accurately and in its entirely."

Another document states that some of the complaints against Tate came from employees of Albuquerque Ambulance. At times, both AFD paramedics and ambulance employees respond to the same emergency calls.

An Oct. 10 letter from Assistant City Attorney Rebecca E. Wardlaw to Tate's attorney states that the "matters alleged are very serious. If true, they cannot be resolved by training in documentation."

The letter goes on to say that Tate's paramedic license is at issue.

Tate, 35, is also named as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a 79-year-old man killed when Tate allegedly ran a red light in an AFD vehicle in 2009. The lawsuit alleges that Tate turned off his emergency lights before entering the intersection of Unser and Central.

In 2003, Tate was found not guilty of misdemeanor aggravated battery related to an incident at the Frontier Restaurant in Albuquerque. He joined the AFD in 2002.

Growing concern

Details of his personnel inquiry are confidential, but internal emails and other documents obtained by the Journal indicate that AFD supervisors became increasingly concerned about Tate's interactions earlier this year.

After an incident in March involving an emergency call, one AFD commander questioned Tate's behavior.

"Someone needs to get involved sooner rather than later to avoid any potential liability to the department," wrote AFD's Emergency Medical Services Division Commander Jon Sigurdson.

Sigurdson wrote another email on May 10 to Tate's supervisor and an AFD quality improvement captain about a "patient assessment that could have resulted in a negative patient outcome. There was also the complaint of him being a bully and insensitive to the patient and family."

The email went on to say: "... both of you have had interactions with him in the past and I want Brad to know from this day forward, everyone will be watching him ..."

Side job

Attorney Cadigan said nearly all firefighters have outside employment, because of the nature of the job. "They work several days on and several days off, which leaves them with sufficient time to hold down a second job without conflict between them.

"His (Tate's) work with SW Airlines does not interfere with his AFD job in any way. If it had, he would have been disciplined and he was not," Cadigan said in an email response to Journal questions.

In a subsequent email, Cadigan said his client, while an employee of the airlines, hasn't worked "a single shift for Southwest Airlines since 2008."

Cadigan said in an interview that he doesn't know why Tate hasn't worked a shift in four years, and why he is still listed as an employee of the airlines.

AFD employees are supposed to seek approval for outside employment annually, but Tate hadn't filed the form since 2008, city records show.

A copy of that form shows he received approval to work for the airlines "not to exceed 20 hours" a week loading and unloading planes. The address for Southwest was listed as Las Vegas, Nev.

Las Vegas is also the headquarters for the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization, and several of the city's casinos are hubs for professional mixed martial arts bouts.

Tate's extracurricular activities with that sports community caught the attention of AFD management, according to an Oct. 2 email from Deputy Chief Watson to Fire Chief James Breen.

The email cites an Internet posting involving Tate's appearance in 2010 on the The Ultimate Fighter reality television show.

Watson's email provided the fire chief with a link to an Internet story about Tate's on-air physical scuffle with a mixed martial arts fighter.

"Yes, our Brad Tate," was all Watson wrote.

EEOC Complaint

Tate in his EEOC complaint contends he has been discriminated against "due to my race (Black)" and in retaliation for filing a prior discrimination complaint while in training at the Albuquerque Fire Academy in 2002.

That EEOC complaint in 2002 was found to have merit, according to city records.

But city officials say the current discrimination charges are false.

Cadigan said in an email that Tate is being unfairly targeted by fire department management.

"... AFD investigators have dug through years of reports, desperate to find pretext to justify terminating him.

"While spending money for outside investigators and three mandatory interviews of Tate, AFD management has been unable to locate any evidence of wrongdoing or violation of AFD policy," Cadigan said.

The city hired Robert Caswell Investigations of Albuquerque to conduct the inquiry, which city records show has included interviews with employees of Albuquerque Ambulance, which also responds to 911 calls.

Cadigan said his client is barred from publicly defending his actions involving specific cases because of medical privacy laws. But Cadigan said Tate did not violate AFD paramedic rules in the case involving "Bernadette" or the teenager who had stomach pains and was vomiting.

Fire Chief Breen, in a statement to the Journal, defended the internal investigation as important to protecting the public trust.

"Upon conclusion of the investigation and if warranted, an appropriate level of discipline will be imposed that best serves the public interest," Breen added.

Copyright 2012 - Albuquerque Journal, N.M.