The incident dates back to January 2016. Three volunteer firefighters from the Fougerolles fire station in Haute-Saône were transporting an 85-year-old woman. Whilst en route to a hospital, the emergency and patient transport vehicle was involved in an accident.
In the crash, the woman in her eighties was thrown against the side of the ambulance because she had not been properly secured. She died a few days later. At the time of the incident, the volunteer firefighter who was driving the ambulance that day tested positive for alcohol. His blood alcohol level was 0.58 g/L.
In court, the driver was given a six-month suspended prison sentence, as well as a six-month driving ban. His two colleagues, who were in the back of the vehicle, were acquitted on the grounds of “lack of proven facts”. The court ruled that the fact that not all the safety straps on the stretcher had been properly secured did not constitute negligence, as this is not a legal requirement.
The director of SDIS 70, Colonel Fabrice Tailharda, was present during the deliberations. He told our colleagues at France 3 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté that the sentence handed down was “fair and proportionate”.