EMTs Under Fire for Treating Man with Antivenom After He Was Bitten by Snake

Two first responders in Kentucky could potentially lose their licences after saving a man’s life.

Powell County paramedic Eddie Barnes and one of his team members were called to the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in May after the zoo’s co-director, James Harrison, was bitten by a poisonous mamba snake, local news outlet LEX 18 reported.

Barnes told the outlet that he and his teammate went with Harrison to the airport to wait for a medical helicopter. While they were waiting, Harrison told them he needed antivenom as soon as possible — and that he had brought his own from the zoo.

“He said the first part of the stage is paralysis, second part is respiratory arrest, third part is cardiac arrest. He said, ‘I’m gonna die,’ ” Barnes recalled while speaking to the outlet.

Barnes said he attempted to call his supervisor, who didn’t answer, and so he then reached out to Clark Regional Medical Center and spoke to an ER doctor who “gave us permission” to administer the antivenom.

Now, Barnes and his teammate may lose their EMS licenses due to a technicality: Only first responders classified as “wilderness paramedics” are authorized to administer antivenom, per the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services (KBEMS), according to LEX 18. The policy was put in place two years ago, per the outlet.

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Neither Barnes nor his partner had wilderness paramedic certification at the time of the incident, and they now have a hearing scheduled for Sept. 30 to find out if they will get to keep their licenses.

In a statement to LEX 18, Eddie Slone, executive director of KBEMS, said that “a preliminary investigation is completed” whenever the board receives a complaint or “allegations of a potential violation of regulations.”

Slone further stated that most investigations that lead to hearings are either dismissed or are resolved with the assignment of continued training and education.

Barnes is displeased with how the events have ultimately unfolded. “If we had sat there and let him die, then we would have been morally and ethically responsible, and we could have been criminally charged for his death,” he said while speaking to local news outlet Fox 10.

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“If it came down today, I would do the same thing. You cannot put a price on a person’s life,” Barnes added.

Harrison’s wife, Kristen Wiley, who is the founder and co-director of the zoo, said she is personally grateful for the actions taken by Barnes and his teammate that day.

“Every physician that we’ve talked to about it, and about the course of the bite, agrees that they were heroes and did what needed to be done to save him. That’s who I want working on me in an emergency,” she told Fox 10.

PEOPLE reached out to the Clark Regional Medical Center and the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services for comment on Saturday, Sept. 27, but did not receive immediate responses.