comment: >
  
  Why TF would they strap him down in the prone position?
context: According to the coroner’s autopsy report, Moore died of “compressional and positional asphyxia due to prone facedown restraint on a paramedic transportation cot/stretcher by tightened straps across back and lower body in the setting of lethargy and underlying chronic alcoholism.” >
  
  Tightened straps across the back and lower body? WTH >
  
  You mean how they strap everyone into a moving vehicle on a gurney?  Yes.
  The facedown would probably be due to fears of vomiting and ashpyxiation from that.
  That's a far cry from intentionally and actively killing the man.   These charges will be at worst lowered to a negligent homicide if any going forward. >
  
  Find me the training that recommends face down.  You won't find it.  Those EMTs have a choice, Follow the manual/training or do nothing and walk away.  The option of doing whatever the fuck you want can land you in prison. >
  
  They may have not followed the proscribed rules and yet that does not make the correct charge be murder.
  Do you argue that? >
  
  I do, in this line of work, you don't get not to follow proscribed rules because it can kill someone, and they are not doctors with the extra training to go off the book. >
  
  Please tell me why you believe that having him face down is a case of actively killing the man?  For murder there must be intent.  
  If you're on the jury would you think that action would be akin to placing a plastic bag of his head and tying it off or they were negligent in following the rules?
  They're responsible for the death but it sure isn't murder. >
  
  Training, you can place them face up, or you can use the recovery position; they specifically teach not to do face down because they can aspirate and die... Which is what happened.  Its just like we train people nut to drive there cars into other people.
  This is taught in
  Basic First aid,
  Advanced First Aid,
  Certified Nursing Assistants,
  EMT
  ETC.. >
  
  Again that is not the point.   You're describing negligence, not the intent to kill him. >
  
  Gross negligence, or negligent homicide. >
  
  It is a clearly stated rule in EMS that no patient is to be restrained in thr prone position and it has been so for a decade. Presumably this is because enough folks died just like this.
  They used to "sandwich" combative patients between 2 backboard until that also was a no-no. >
  
  It seems like common sense you'd never strap people down like that.  Not an EMT, I just think instinctually that's not what a reasonable person would do. >
  
  The only thing I (the furthest person from being a medical professional) could think make me want to lay someone prone is to ensure they don't choke themselves on potential vomit.
  But there are certainly better ways to mitigate that than strapping someone face down in an ambulance. >
  
  That is where I went. They had other methods but those require active intervention so they strapped him face down so he didn't aspirate, rode up front and didn't realize he suffocated in the back.
  Speculative - they probably have a manual tool to clear airways or rotate the entire backboard for vomiting patients. Anything like that requires active intervention. Instead they did the zero effort version and I bet both rode up front in comfy seats. >
  
  I may have missed the part of them riding up front…if they both rode up front this call keeps getting worse. As mentioned by other comments there is less evasive measures that require less work such as left-lateral recumbent (laying on left side) that would work.