DENVER — For more than a year, the Denver7 Investigates team has examined critical decisions made by the Denver Health Paramedics Division.
This 30-minute special report covers reporting from multiple angles into an issue that more than a half dozen veteran paramedics said “must be investigated.”
They spoke exclusively to Denver7 about a culture inside the hospital where paramedics are coached, pressured and even sometimes bullied into bypassing qualified level one trauma centers to return critically injured patients to Denver Health.
Insiders and records uncovered by the Denver7 Investigates team show that, many times, those decisions means the drive to an emergency covers more miles and takes longer.
The case of 11-year-old Aundrea Plunkett exposes what insiders describe as "several critical failures in the system."
Plunkett was critically injured back in 2016. internal memos uncovered by Denver7 found emergency responders questioning the decisions of Denver Health Paramedics.
When Chief Investigative Reporter Tony Kovaleski asks Denver’s Deputy Mayor of what the team uncovered is a problem, Murphy Robinson responded, “of course it is, it’s a major problem.”
Watch the 30-minute special in the player below.
