good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we are continuing our coverage of the derek chauvin murder trial. today we heard from a woman who had a relationship with george floyd for three years. she admitted on the stand that she and george floyd were addicted to opiates on and off throughout their relationship. >> was mr. floyd active physically? >> yes, he was very active. >> what do you mean by that? what types of things did you see him doing? >> floyd liked to work out every

day. he lifted weights that are far beyond anything i could lift every single day. he did situps, push-ups, pullups. >> and complaints? >> his neck from his neck to his shoulder blade and down to his lower back, three main areas. >> despite that he remained physically active and would do these activities? >> oh, yes. >> when he did these things it led to his injuries that led to prescriptions for opiates? the injuries that he had to his neck. >> oh, yes. >> joining me now is shaq in minneapolis, "boston globe"

opinion writer, kimberly atkins, chuck rosenberg and paul butler. welcome all. shaq, the reporters in the courtroom, the pool, about the testimony for tomorrow and how the jury is reacting to all of this? >> you got a sense from the two reporters allowed in the room as miss ross was testifying, she really connected with the jurors. she explained how floyd was a security guard and when he saw she was in distress, he came up and prayed with her. and she told about how the pain

led to opioid addiction. she said that is a classic american story. she helped humanize george floyd but also opened the door for the defense to talk about their point, that drugs were a contributing factor to his death, he talked about what kind of pills he had and what they would do together and you heard cross-examination ask about that and dig down on the factor. we also learned that the prosecution expect to call the minneapolis police chief to the stand tomorrow. we knew that would be somebody testifying. they teased that in some of their opening statements and said their police chief would testify that the force used by derek chauvin on that day was excessive.

we heard that after george floyd's death, not just mr. chauvin, but three other police officers were fired almost immediately. we also know that tomorrow will be a shorter court period because the judge said they have been moving through these witnesses at a faster pace than expected. so another emotional day after what has been an emotional week of testimony. >> thanks, shaq. if you will hang in for a bit. paul butler, i wanted to ask you about defense strategy. humanize george floyd and drug use. how the defense went at it. let's listen to a little more of the testimony. >> the pills that you purchased

in march, did you know those were purchased from mr. hoff. >> what -- >> the pills that you purchased in march of 2020. >> no, i did not. >> those are the pills that kept you up all night. >> we got pills in may that reminded me of the same feeling. i don't know if they were the same pills. it was a similar experience. >> that was approximately a week before mr. floyd's passing? >> yes. >> and by similar experience, do you recall telling the fbi that when you have that you felt like you were going to die? >> i don't remember saying that, but i did see it in the transcript. >> did you see mr. floyd take the pills? >> yes.

we did take them together that time. >> when he took those, he did not die. >> no, he did not. >> did you see how it affected him? >> he had a lot of energy. >> but he was okay after using them? >> yes, he was playing football, hanging out, eating, just a normal day. >> and then the prosecution trying to address that. paul, the defense is trying to lay a predicate that the pills could have contributed to his death. >> the defense is going to make a big deal about mr. floyd's addiction to create reasonable doubt whether chauvin killed him or whether it was a combination of pre-existing conditions. she shares the struggle with

drugs and puts a human face on an issue that a lot of americans have to deal with. that redirect from the pros couser. -- prosecutor. and also said that mr. floyd had a high threshold. sometimes witnesses worry about messing up the case so she wasn't all that forthcoming with the defense attorney. sometimes that comes across as evasive. but from shaq's reporting, it sounds like jurors looked at this witness quite sympathetically. >> in terms of how it fits into the overall strategy of the case? >> i thought she came across quite credible. i agree with paul that she was

evasive. you see that with witnesses at trial who don't want to be there. i want to mention why the prosecution asked about their drug use and addiction. we call it drawing the sting. it's a tried and true prosecution strategy to tell the jury in your own words, in your own time about the good, bad and ugly of the case. it's going to come out. so it's much better for the prosecution to confront the issue and draw the sting rather than have the defense jump up and say the prosecution was trying to hide these things from the jury. andrea, i am sure you never got in trouble in middle school, but if you did, you maybe told your

mom and dad first before the principal called. that's called drawing the string. it's a very good strategy. >> i am not going to tell you about my suspension in 7th grade that was very brief. this witness in particular, showing the human side of george floyd, showing more of his life, fleshing out that he is more than that awful 9:29 seconds. >> yeah. it's very important. it's important to realize here that george floyd is not on trial and nothing that he has been accused of or what the police were called for anyway, passing a $20 bill or being someone who is struggling with addiction, none of those things come with a death sentence. so there are two things that are trying to be established here from some of these bits from his

past or about his life. one is that he would be perceived as dangerous by police that would warrant him being put in a hole, and, two, as both paul and shaq point out -- that his actions weren't the cause of his death, that maybe he died from drug addiction. these have to be proven, that these action are the but for cause. the idea for prosecutors is to paint george floyd's family, that he played ball, that he had family, and that he had struggles, too. it is important that people see him not just as a one dimensional being. that's what prosecution is

trying to do with all of these witnesses. >> this morning we learned that the passenger in the vehicle with george floyd was going to plead the fifth if called. we don't know the witness list. we only just now learned that the police chief will be testifying tomorrow. we don't know who is coming next. would pleading the fifth be done on the stand? >> typically it would not and not be done in front of the jury. it would not be done in front of the jury. it might be done on the stand, but if both sides know somebody intends to plead the fifth, i don't see any reason why they would have to do it in front of the judge to make a record, but

not in front of the jury. people have a constitutional right to plead the fifth. there is a strange inequity. if the prosecution really needs someone's testimony, even if they plead the fifth, they could immunize them. prosecutors don't have that authority. so if the defense wants to, they could ask the prosecution to do that. if the prosecution needed them, they could immunize them. i imagine the prosecution has plenty of other evidence they will produce at trial and that the person in the car probably

doesn't hold the keys to the outcome of the case. >> paul, i want to talk about some of the emotion we saw yesterday. there has been such an emotional witness. this is the bystander who was concerned, circled his car around, picked up a friend at cup foods and was pleading with george floyd to stop protesting. you can hear him on the tape saying it's not going to help. you can't win, you can't win. this was part of his emotional testimony. >> oh, my god! >> i know this is difficult. can you explain what you are

feeling in this moment? >> i feel helpless. >> this trial is so extraordinary because of all of the eyewitnesss who tried to help. this is not the bystander that we have seen for decades and decades of the woman in times square yesterday, the asian-american woman who was beat. these people tried to hard and are carrying this sadness and guilt. in this case they are hearing george floyd call for his mother. and understanding there was nothing he could do. >> every eyewitness has

expressed remorse and survivors' guilt. we saw mr. williams, expert in martial arts. he broke down and cried. yesterday this older gentleman, uncontrollable sobbing. i remember one voice from the crowd. that voice said he's human. but officer human did not treat mr. floyd like a human being is what prosecutors want jurors to think. but all of these witnesses, what they did, this is not an angry mob, these are brave citizens standing up to the police at their own peril saying you will not do this in our name. you will not snuff out the life of george floyd in our name.

>> gabe gutierrez interviewed the brother of george floyd earlier today who said he understood mr. mcmillan grew up in an era where you didn't speak back to the police, that he grew up in an era of segregation and separate water fountains. the court is back in session. i believe a new witness is coming in. is that the case? i think the judge just stepped off the bench again for a sidebar. kim, in talking about all of these bystanders who have survivor skills, including the young girl who was only 17 at the time. it's really pretty remarkable

how this community responded. >> it is remarkable. you are seeing these people who are reacting to the fact that they saw someone die right in front of their eyes and that is incredibly difficult and we see that emotion coming out as they recount it, and certainly a feeling of guilt that they wish they could have done more, but these witnesses are also important for the prosecution to show other things. the fact that over the course of this time there was a point where george floyd fell unresponsive. and we saw witness after witness after witness not only realize that, but point that out to the officers saying he needed medical help. one saying that she was trained as a firefighter in order to give responses and try to check for a pulse. the fact you had so many people detailing minute by minute exactly what was happening was an important part of this as well. so those witnesses are really

crucial despite the emotion. >> and we have another witness who has just been sworn in by the judge. let's listen in. >> if we could begin by having you state your name spelling them. seth zachary brabander. >> good morning, mr. brabander. where do you work? >> i am a paramedic. >> how long have you been a paramedic with the ems? >> i started in june of 2017.

>> is your title paramedic? >> yes. >> is that been the case for the past three to four-year period? have bun a paramedic? >> yes. >> what is the training that goes into being a paramedic? >> prior to becoming a paramedic, you have to be an emt which is a fairly short course. then paramedic school was about 12-months long. >> just to back you up, you have to be an emt first. what is an emt? >> it's just a lower level certification, a lot more limited in your scope and skills and what you can do. to give an example, my emt is a

six-credit college course. >> so you attended it in college? >> no, i did it in high school. >> let's talk about what you went through? >> i attended an emt course my senior year of high school. i started volunteering where i grew up. >> was that while you were still in high school? >> yeah, pretty much as i was graduating i started that. >> so you said there is a different training path required to become a pair med snik. >> yes. >> did do you that immediately after? >> i started the paramedic

course -- it would have been 2012 in may and then graduated in may of 2013. >> so you trained to be a paramedic at hmnc from may of 2012 to 2013, is that what you said? >> yes. >> what does that entail, that training? >> a lot of bookwork and hands on skill training, a lot of ride alongs and in the hospital. >> is that a year-long training? >> the whole course was a year. >> did you complete that successfully? >> yes. >> are there additional certifications you have to go through to become a paramedic? >> yes. >> describe that, please. >> there is a written exam we

have to take and also a skills exact. >> did you complete that in 2013? >> yes. >> what about to maintain your license or status as a paramedic? is that continuing education? >> yes, we have to update certification every two years. >> are you up to date on that certification? >> i am. >> let's fwauk your job on a day-to-day basis. what do you do as a paramedic? ? >> i work with my partner on an ambulance. we respond to 911 calls, primarily medical emergencies and provide care to our patients and transport them to the hospital. >> what kinds of calls do you get? you say medical calls. do those vary? >> yeah. anything people would call 911

for. >> have some of those calls been life threatening emergencies? >> yes. >> have some of those been cardiac in nature? >> yes. >> drug overdoses, things like that? >> yes. >> what other types of things would you respond to? >> mental health problems would be included in that as well. >> what is your primary objective? what is your job when you go out to a scene as a paramedic? >> to provide the best care i can for my patient and bring them safely to the hospital, appropriate hospital they need to go to and also advocate for them when i need to. >> when you say advocate, what do you mean by that? >> just making sure their complaint or problem is heard and communicated, as to why they

are in the emergency room. >> when you talk about advocating, is part of your process as a paramedic to hear what a patient needs and pass that onto the hospital? >> correct. >> i want to address your attention to memorial day of last year. were you on duty on that date? >> i was. >> was there a call you responded to that evening in the area of 38th and chicago? >> yes. >> what was the nature of that call? how did you become aware of it? >> we were dispatched -- we have our screen where we get our calls on. we were dispatched. and our notes said we were going

to a code for someone with a mouth injury and pd was on scene. >> when you say code 2, what does that mean? >> routine. normal driving. >> you said routine, like no sirens. what does that indicate to you in terms of the criticality? >> pretty low. no life threatening criticality if we are going code two. >> where were you coming from? >> we were downtown when we got it. >> did you get into your ambulance at that time, assuming you were responding to a code

two call? >> yeah. i believe we were already in it. >> did the nature of that call change at some point? >> it did. about 1:30 after we got it i believe. >> what was the change? >> we got a note saying code three, so upgraded to lights and sirens, emergent response to the scene. >> at that point in time did you have any more information about what the code three was? >> no, not at that point. >> while you were en route, did you upgrade to response of a code three, meaning did you use lights and sirens? >> yes. >> ultimately did you arrive at

that location, the 38th and chicago location? >> we did. >> what did you see when you arrived on scene? >> as we were pulling up to the scene, multiple officers on the side of the road with our patient lying on the ground next to a squad car. >> so as you were pulling up, was that the position you observed them in, meaning the officers on top of the patient next to the squad car? >> yes. >> could you tell at that point as you were approaching what the situation was or what the condition of the patient was at that moment? >> no. there were multiple officers on top of the patient at that

point. when we pulled up we assumed -- i should say i assumed that there was potentially some struggle still because they were still on top of him. that was my assumption when we pulled up. >> so when you got to the scene, having no additional information and seeing what you saw, that's what was going through your mind? >> yes. >> so when you got to the scene, what did you do next? >> parked the ambulance. got out. i walked to the back of the ambulance and my partner walked over to check on the patient. >> what did you see when you got out of the ambulance in terms of the patient's condition at that point? >> i was standing a little ways away. my partner would have a more

accurate description at that point, but from what i could see, i didn't see any breathing or movement or anything like that. >> did he appear to be unresponsive to you at that point in time? >> as far as i could tell just standing from a distance. >> was he in handcuffs? >> yes. >> we are describing the patient here. was that patient later identified as george floyd? >> yes. >> so when you got out, your partner first approached, is that right? what were you doing at the initial point in time when you first got there? >> as he went over to check on the patient, i was watching him to kind of get a cue on what we were going to do next. we were still determining what the patient's condition was so i was waiting for him to go check

on the patient and then know what to do next. >> at that point in time when you were standing outside and your partner was approaching, did you see a struggle going on, movement, anything like that? >> no. >> so after your partner first approached, did you see what he was doing? >> yeah. he checked the pulse on his neck, that carotid pulse and also checked the patient's pupils. >> did you discuss with your partner at that point next steps? >> yeah, he walked back towards me and i asked is he in cardiac arrest, and he said i think so. >> he used the word cardiac arrest. what does that mean? >> it's a term we are going to

use for anybody that's not responsive, not breathing, and doesn't have a pulse currently. >> so essentially does that mean that someone's heart has stopped? >> yeah. >> are there multiple things that can cause someone's heart to stop? >> absolutely, yes. >> when you say cardiac arrest, you are dealing with a patient whose heart has stopped. is that an emergency? >> yes. >> what did you guys -- knowing that you had an individual george floyd, in cardiac arrest, what did you do? >> my partner said let's just get him in the truck so i unloaded our stretcher bring to the patient to place him in the ambulance. >> what were you -- what was the reason for getting him into the truck? >> all of our equipment at that

point was in the truck for resuscitating patients, and we -- we also didn't have the ambulance fire there who work with us on that. so we needed to get him in the truck. on top of that there were a crowd of people that appeared very upset on the sidewalk. there was yelling and stuff and in my mind at least we also wanted to get away from that. because running into cardiac arrest takes a lot of mental power and focus and can be taxing on our ability so we want to do that in the optimum environment we can. since the ambulance was right there, we wanted to be in a controlled space to start

resuscitation. >> was part of the reason you moved him to give him the best care you could and be focused away from distractions? >> yes. >> you described hearing the people yelling or loud voices, but was there a physical fight or anything like that while you were there? >> not that i saw. >> you decided it would be best for the patient to be moved to a controlled setting and do your work on the ambulance, is that right? >> yeah, and all of our equipment was there. >> you also mentioned fire. tell me why it's important to have fire assist? >> a lot of different skills we will be doing on a patient to try to resuscitate them. we work closely with minneapolis fire emts. they do things like breathing for them, help patient breathe or chest compressions or stuff like that. >> you used the term bbm --

>> it's just a thing you squeeze to breathe through your patient. >> if someone is not breathing, is that part of the process to resuscitate them? >> yes. >> fire, you are talking about the minneapolis fire department, is that right? >> yes. >> in a lot of people's mind you think of firefighting, but you also said they are emts. so is that typical to have them? >> yes. >> you said there is a lot of work to do. can you explain for the jury why it takes so many people? what is the process you go through when you are trying to resuscitate a patient in that state? >> we are doing things like chest compressions to hopefully

circulate blood through their body. you also need to control their airway. some sort of airway has to be in place. we have to breathe for them. we have to gain vascular access, an iv or something so we can give them medicationes to resuscitate them as well as cardiac monitor which will monitor a couple of things, but mainly their heart rim -- rhythm. >> to do all of those things i assume you need help? >> the more help you can have makes it run smoother. once it's established, you can do it, but it helps get them established. >> i want to go back to the

scene and the first interaction you had. i am going to play a clip from an exhibit already admitted, 47. we are going to play a clip from 20:20:35 to 20:35:29.

[ video playing ] [ video playing ]

[ video playing ] >> all right. we can take that down. just to walk through that clip. the beginning of that clip there was an individual with a hat bending down over the head of mr. floyd. was that you or your partner? >> that was my partner.

>> what is your partner's name? garrett. >> and what is his last name? >> smith. >> at the beginning of that clip when mr. smith was bending down over mr. floyd, was that the point in time where he was checking for the pulse of mr. floyd that you described? >> yes. >> you may have been out of the frame for that, but what were you doing while that was going on? >> i was at the back of the ambulance. i was standing at the back of the ambulance. >> while your partner was checking for a pulse and checking people's -- was the officers still on top of george floyd while that was going on? >> yes. >> i want to show you a different clip and view from within that time frame. we are going to exhibit what has already been admitted as exhibit

15 but just a short clip from that. if we could publish that, please. >> get of his [ bleep ] neck, bro. get off of his neck! are you serious? you are going to keep -- bro -- don't touch me like that. >> let up on his neck. bro, he's not even [ bleep ] --

>> they don't care. they don't care, bro. >> you just sit there with your knee on his neck. you are a real man, bro. you are a real man, bro. >> the fact you guys aren't checking his pulse -- you guys are -- >> okay. >> i have your name tag, bitcr. >> that don't matter. >> freedom of speech. >> so at the end of that clip there is another individual without a hat towards the head of mr. floyd. was that you in that position at the end? >> yes. >> you are seen bending down over mr. floyd. there was a gesture made with your hand.

what were you attempting to do at that point in time? >> just have the officer move. >> again, did you have a conversation at that point? what was the intent behind that? >> i don't recall if i said anything or not. i am not sure. >> why did you need the officer to move? >> so we could move the patient. >> then were you continuing to assist on the head side of mr. floyd while the patient mr. floyd was moved? >> yes. >> i believe there is a clip in there where you had your hands near his head. what were you trying to do? >> just trying to keep it from slamming down on the pavement as we moved him over. >> how would you describe the way that mr. floyd was moved to the stretcher? >> what do you mean by that? >> that wasn't a very good

question. well, you were trying to keep his head from slamming into the pavement. why was that? >> because he was i guess lmp would be the best description. he wasn't responsive or holding his head up or anything like that. >> were you trying to protect his head? >> yeah. >> so what happened next? we saw the initial clip where mr. floyd was loaded upon the ambulance. did an officer come with you? >> yes. >> what was the purpose of that? >> to do chest compressions for us. >> was part of that the reason you described that you need more people to work on a patient in this situation? >> yes.

>> what did you do at that point in time? >> as you can see on the video, my partner and i had a brief discussion that we were going to move a couple blocks away. >> for the reasons you discussed earlier? >> yes. >> did you ultimately go to another location? >> yes, i went to the front and drove the ambulance and went to 36th and park. >> and i am going to show just you, not the jury an exhibit that has not yet been admitted. i will put exhibit 73 on the screen, please. you should see in front of you a map. does that appear in front of you? >> yes. >> does that show a map of the area where you were on may 25th

of 2020? >> yes. >> does it show both cup foods and where the ambulance ultimately parked for a period of time to render assistance? >> yes. >> your honor, i offer exhibit 73. >> no objection, your honor. >> 73 is received. >> we would ask that be published to the jury. so now that is up on the screen. if you could just describe where you went and how you got there. >> i would have gone down 38th and then up park here. >> if you could just describe. you talked about the reason to move, but why did you need to stop? >> to, like i said, it's

resource intensive to do resuscitation so i need to be in back to help my partner in resuscitating mr. floyd. >> at the two of you it was just the two of you plus the officer? >> yes. >> did your partner need your assistance to perform those resuscitative efforts? >> yes. >> did you ultimately park and go back to assist in the back of the ambulance? >> i did. >> what was going on when you got back there? >> i can't remember everything that was going on at that exact moment when i walked into the ambulance -- >> let's start with this. had mr. floyd's condition improved? had he gotten better? >> no. i remember walking in. the cardiac monitor was showing

dystoly. >> what is that? >> flat lined is the most lay person friendly term, but basically tells us the heart isn't doing anything at that moment. >> essentially no activity in the heart? >> yes. >> so when you came back and saw that on the monitor, what is that? >> that's not a good sign for successful resuscitation. >> can you explain why? why is that? >> basically because your heart isn't doing anything at that moment. there is not -- it's not pumping

blood so it's not a good sign for a good outcome. >> so what did you do noticing that and his partner worked on him while you were driving as well, right? >> yes. >> how did you join in the efforts? >> a couple different things. worked on getting him placed on a lucas device which does chest compressions. >> can you stop and explain what it is and how it works? >> a device placed over their chest that has a plunger that does compressions for us to do chest compressions to circulate blood. >> i am going to put on the screen what has already been admitted as exhibit 62.

so exhibit 62 is on the screen. can you just describe what is shown here and what you are doing? >> there is a back board that goes behind the patient and it has to click in and connect to it in order to work. so i was hooking it up. >> is that part of the lucas device? >> yes. >> so when you say back board maybe you could use your stylus or finger to indicate what you are talking about? >> that is a piece that goes all of the way across the back. >> to set it up, it has to be positioned in a certain way? >> yes. >> so you are assisting with getting that set up. the other officer was on the ambulance with you at that time?

>> yes. >> and the other person behind you, is that your partner, mr. smith? >> yes. >> we move to exhibit 63. which has already been admitted. so once you get the lucas you ge going, what does it do? how does it assist you in this process of providing impressions? >> how does it assist us? i'm not sure what you mean. >> is it done sort of as a way to replace or make it so that hand cpr, the compressions that people might think of when they think of cpr, does it sort of do that for you instead? >> yes, it does that for us instead. >> can you just sort of describe how that works, maybe not the mechanics of the machine or just what you see happening when you see somebody on a lucas device? >> that center plunger, that

goes up and down and does the compressions. >> does it all free up your hands to do your things while there are other compressions given by the machine? >> yes. >> after the lucas device is set up -- and before we move on, did you notice injuries on mr. floyd as well while you were working on him? >> i wasn't really like examining him at the time for injuries, but i noticed some blood near his mouth. >> were those your primary concerns at that point? >> no. >> why is that? >> just at a glance, it looks like a minor injury and it's not really a concern. we're worried about resuscitating him. >> at that point he didn't have a heartbeat, right? >> yes. >> so now this picture number 63, which one of these individuals are you, is you?

>> i'm the one near the patient's head. >> so what are you doing there? >> placing an eye gel airway device. >> what is an eye gel airway device and what does it do? >> place it on their mouth. it goes near the opening to the trachea, means you can use that bvm, the bag i was talking about, to breathe for them and ventilate them. >> why is that important to what you're doing? >> it's a part of securing the airwave, to make sure liquid or whatever fluid or vomit or anything doesn't end up in their lungs and also helps us deliver oxygen and ventilate effectively. >> at this point you're doing this because he's not briejing? >> yes. >> meaning no resstrations are

happening for him so you're trying to use your equipment to do that, right? >> yes. >> did you ultimately -- let's move to exhibit 64, which has already been admitted. were you ultimately able to place that airway? >> yes. >> and is exhibit 64, is that part of the process you're working on with respect to mr. floyd's head and face and mouth area? >> yes. >> and your partner, what is he doing at that point in time? >> he is working on getting iv access. >> you talked a little bit about iv access before, but what was the purpose of getting the iv access in this -- for his treatment, for mr. floyd's

treatment. >> to administer medications. >> what were the medications that were administered to mr. floyd? >> all of them that we would have given. >> well, i don't know if this is a long list, but what were your primary purpose -- what were you trying to give him? >> epinephrine is a first-line medication when somebody is in cardiac arrest. >> did you give him epinephrine? >> yes. >> why is it first line, what does it do? >> helps to restart their heart. >> they've been showing photos -- showing photos to the court and the jury, of course,

of the attempts to resuscitate george floyd in the ambulance, and they are trying to put in an iv, to give him epinephrine, restart his heart. they're trying to vent late him they're trying according to this witness, a paramedic, qualified first at emt and then paramedic and the judge is in the process of explaining how they're going to proceed. we've not shown these images to you in discretion because they're very graphic, but the jury is seeing them. >> so getting back to the treatment, we were talking about epinephrine and why you give that. can you repeat what you said, just so i can recall? >> at that point it's given to

help their heart start working again. >> is that one of the things you do, standard practice with cardiac arrest? >> yes. >> do you also give sodium bicarbonate as one of your treatments for cardiac arrest as well? >> yes. >> does that provide assistance if there's been downtime or some extended period of time without a pulse? >> objection -- >> i can rephrase. why do you give sodium bicarbonate? >> based on my training i was given, it's to help with acidosis. >> and what is acidosis? >> essentially your ph would be low, and there's many different things that can be causing that. >> why is it bad to have low ph?

>> i can't go into the details on it because i'm not an expert but my training is acidosis is bad and we need to work on correcting that. >> is as doe dissomething that can be caused, for example, by hypoxia? >> objection. >> sustained. >> when you're talking about acidosis, what are you trying to treat in the moment? what are you dealing with? >> i'm giving sodium bicarb to help optimize the patient's condition for a successful resuscitation. >> in terms of your work as a paramedic, when you come upon somebody whose heart has stopped or cardiac arrest and given medications like epinephrine,

sodium bicarbonate, part of that is standard treatment for you? >> yes. >> i believe we just took down exhibit 64. we're going to just put up exhibit 65. maybe if we just go back to 64 for a second because i'm not quite sure which exhibit i had on there. i believe we had 64. let's move to 65. again, can you just describe what you're doing at this moment in exhibit 65. >> at that moment i am working on securing the eye gel airway device in my right hand there, the blue thing is a tube holder we call it to put in the patient's mouth to keep the airway device in place. >> while you're working on the

airway, is your partner working on the iv? >> yes. >> was that for purposes of administering the medications we just discussed? >> yes. >> we can take that down. thank you. >> at some point did your apartment arrive to assist? >> yes. >> what was mr. floyd's condition when they arrived? >> the same. >> it had not improved, is that right? >> no. >> what did you do when the fire -- how many firefighters came? >> i don't remember for sure how many were in the back. i believe it was two but i'm not 100% sure. >> did your role play when the

firefighters arrived? >> yes. >> what did you do at that point? >> i believe at that point i started working on getting -- working on iv access. >> was there sort of a switch of jobs when the firefighters came in? >> yes, at some point the officers stepped out and i just kind of moved down to near where he was sitting. >> when the firefighters came, did you feel like there were enough people to do what you needed to do for mr. floyd in order to get him where he needed to go? >> yes. >> you said the officers stepped off. did one of the firefighters take over with respect to what you were working on in the airway? >> yes, the airway was established so they're working on squeezing that bag to breathe for the patient. >> maybe you can just describe how that works. does someone need to squeeze the bag in order to provide -- how does it