covid has made clear that having health insurance is more important than ever. at covered california, every plan is comprehensive, covering everything from preventive care to mental health. and it's the only place that offers financial help for health insurance. enrollment is open due to covid-19. if you or someone you know isn't covered, now is the time to sign up. covered california. this way to health insurance. enroll now at coveredca.com. good afternoon, i'm katy tur. another heart-wrenching day of the trial of derek chauvin. george floyd's girlfriend

testified. he said she met george floyd when he worked as a security guard at the salvation army, telling people he was a good father and talking about the deep impact of the death of his own mother. >> he said can i pray with you? i was so tired. we had been through so much, my sons and i, and this kind person just to come up to me and say, can i pray with you when i felt alone in this lobby. it was so sweet. i called him a mama's boy. i could tell from the minute i

met him. when i met him, he seemed kind of like a shell of himself, like he was broken. >> you'll recall george floyd on video calling out for his mama and his children as he was dying. courtney ross also told the jury that drug use was a part of their relationship, opioid addiction, something so many americans and so many families can identify with. >> our story, it's a classic story of how many people get addicted to opioids. we both suffer from chronic pain. mine was in my neck and his was in his back. we both have prescriptions, but

after prescriptions that were filled, we got addicted and tried really hard to break that addiction many times. >> courteney ross described how injuries and the desire to be physically active led george to pain pills. the defense referencing a time when george floyd overdosed and hospitalized and steering courteney ross toward their use of other stronger pills that she said made her jittery and kept her up all night. the defense also said george floyd bought stronger pills, again, days before his death under derek chauvin's knee.

>> and when you took him to the hospital, did you notice foam coming from his mouth? >> i noticed, like, some kind of -- yeah, foam building in the corners of his mouth, kind of. >> a dry, white substance? do you recall telling the fbi that when you had that, you felt like you were going to die? >> i don't remember saying that. >> do you recall telling the fbi that there would be times he would just be up and bouncing around, and then there would be times that he would be, like, unintelligible? >> i don't recall that, but -- >> would you disagree if i said that that's in the transcript. >> no. >> the defense appearing to argue that the substances in floyd's body contributed to his death and that his behavior necessitated the use of force to

hold him. the paramedic said that george floyd appeared to not be moving at all, no struggle at all. they used all the tools at their disposal, but at that time the paramedics said that was too late. joining me now is gabe gutierrez in minneapolis, judy hodge and george henderson. gabe, you've been covering this trial since the very beginning. you were there in the hours and days after this happened in minneapolis about a year ago. today the defense almost was putting george floyd on trial, talking about his addiction, talking about the need to restrain him. i know you're not inside the courtroom because of the pandemic restrictions, but from

the notes you're getting from the reporters who are there, how does that seem to be playing with the jury? >> reporter: well, katy, it is hard to tell exactly how it's playing because of covid restrictions, they're all wearing masks. but we did get a report about half an hour ago that talked about one of the jurors, when he was listening to courteney ross' testimony, actually furrowed his brow, put his hand in front of his face and was seemingly emotional. at another point in the testimony, the jurors were taking notes. also toward the end of her testimony when she described how in march, just two weeks -- excuse me, two weeks before floyd's death, his behavior seemingly changed. so they also took notes during that. but what was interesting about courteney ross is that unlike some of the other witnesses, she was really seeming to make an effort to establish some sort of

connections with the jurors. she would make more eye contact. if you notice in the room, she would kind of smile or perhaps crack jokes, talked about a classic story and really talked fondly about when she met george floyd back in 2017 when he worked at the salvation army. and then, katy, we were all watching that same testimony. it almost came as a shock very early on in her testimony when the prosecutor asked her to describe when she met george floyd. that emotion really came on suddenly. you have to wonder what effect that had on the jurors that were watching. >> and, gabe, i understand the floyd family has responded to the questioning today and some of the testimony, and then you talked to george floyd's brother as well. what can you tell us? >> reporter: yes. well, look, from the beginning of this trial, well before this trial, the family was making the point that they believe the defense does not have the facts

on their side, so they would focus, they believed, on character assassination. shortly after courteney ross' testimony, two people representing the floyd family put out a statement saying in part, tens of thousands of americans struggle with self-medication and opioid abuse and are treated with dignitydig respect and support, not brutality. i did speak with phlonus floyd. >> everything was painful, the things the witnesses had to go through. they'll always have this in their mindset. they'll never be able to get this out, especially those minors. there is no justification why a person should put their knee and all of their weight on a man's

neck until they pass. he was tortured to death. you clearly see that in the video. there is no reason that he shouldn't be convicted. >> reporter: this testimony obviously affecting the floyd family, katy, and yesterday when i spoke to you, that's when the prosecution played those four body cameras in succession that the floyd family again had to watch over and over and over and over again. multiple times these videos being played in court. as you heard there, obviously very difficult on philonus floyd and the other family members, but they feel it's something that has to be shown. katy? >> let's talk about strategy here. obviously the defense is trying to get derek chauvin off. they're trying to prove that he was not the cause of george floyd's death, and they're trying to build up this case that george floyd was under the influence of drugs, and that was the contributing factor to his death. i wonder, though, what is the

threshold for how derek chauvin's knee comes into play? is it just a contributing factor to his death that's necessary, or does the prosecution need to prove it is the entire reason for george floyd's death? >> that's a great question, katy. causation is definitely going to be the hardest issue for the prosecution to overcome. ultimately that's why this trial will come to the battle of experts we already heard in the opening statement with the witnesses. there will be a bunch of doctors who will opine what exactly caused the death, so i think that is going to be the big material, and especially to get that charge. i want to get back to what's centered around dangerousness, dangerousness of the bystanders.

it's just not lost, that sort of intimation, that he was tall, that that made him dangerous. from the screen shots, there weren't a lot of people, i think the number was 12, four of whom were so young they testified off camera. yet their cross-examination in their opening statement tried to point out the crowd was so dangerous. this sort of trying to say that dangerousness attaches to black skin has real deep, historic connotations. it's kind of how we ended up in this situation with mr. floyd's untimely death, and i think dynamics being associated with black skin is something we're going to unfortunately see

throughout the trial. >> david, it seems that the prosecution, excuse me, has anticipated that strategy from the defense, to paint george floyd as a dangerous person who was an addict. given, though, the state of this country and the way that we perceive addiction today compared to the way we used to perceive addiction, the way that so many different american families from all walks of life deal with opioid addiction within their own families, i wonder, could this strategy to paint him as a drug addict who is dangerous backfire? courteney ross this morning talked about why he was on opioids, why she was on opioids, and how they struggled to get off of them. >> so this is a good example, katy, of risk being increasingly difficult for me to draw the line as a lawyer and watching the trial as a person. i think it's wrong to be bringing up george floyd's

history with drug use, and having prosecuted a number of sexual assault crimes, i know the law recognizes in other contexts the victim's history is irrelevant. the message is that somehow george floyd brought this on himself. i find that deeply offensive. at the same time, i have to recognize that this approach does tend to work and we see it in every case. for example, amber geiger shot and killed balsam jean in his own apartment in dallas, texas, and then you see information released about finding marijuana in his apartment. the reason they're doing it is because characterization is effective. it simply should be put a stop to at the same time. >> david henderson, jimmy hodge, both of you thank you so much, and thank you for sticking around with us throughout the hour as we wait for the trial to resume at 2:30. president biden just wrapped the public portion of the first cabinet meeting of his term. it looked a little different

than the cabinet meetings we saw last year. complete with masks and social distancing as is now standard at the white house, he's pushing his $2 trillion infrastructure proposal which will likely be the primary focus in washington for much of the year. today he announced a group of select cabinet members, including marty walsh and transportation leader pete buttegieg, who will sell the plan to the public. >> they will help me sell the plan and work out the details as we refine it and move forward. >> joining me now is "new york times" chief white house correspondent peter baker and "playbook" author, terra. this is a sweeping bill.

president biden winds it something akin to the new deal, only bigger. they're trying to say we can do two things here. we can fix the nation's infrastructure, and we can also fight climate change while we do so. how are they going to sell this to the public? how will they need to sell it to the public to try and garner any support among republicans? >> yeah, that's a good question, and it's a question of whether actually even trying to garner support among republicans. i think they like to put republicans on the defensive and make it clear they might pay a price if they oppose it. they're certainly relying on polling that shows there is a lot of support for rebuilding the infrastructure of the country and expanding climate programs. there is even support, depending on how you word the polling, for increased taxes on the wealthy. but i don't think you're going to see a lot of republicans jumping on board here. the initial reaction, of course, has been pretty monolithically negative, focusing on the $2 trillion worth of taxes that would be imposed. again, the president says it

would be imposed on those who make $400,000 or more, but taxes have always been, of course, a dividing issue in washington. if that's the case, if he's not going to get republican support, then you've got a president who really has to make sure he's got his democratic party behind him, because he's only got 50 votes in the senate plus the tiebreaker of the vice president and he's only got a majority three votes in the house at the moment. that means you need every democrat basically on board with this, and it's not clear they are on board with this. so his message is not just for the republicans, it's also the democrats. >> what's the timeline on this, ms. terra? how do you see a plan to be voted on first in the house and then the senate? >> katy, it could go on in the summer. as peter said, he is using his cabinet, five members in particular, to fan out across the country and sell this bill.

i think what joe biden is trying to do with this bill, as he did with the last stimulus plan for the covid relief, he wants to make sure this bill is popular with the american people, and that means capturing republicans as well. republican voters have said their base right now is working class americans, right? it's the base that president trump hoped to sell an infrastructure plan to, and i think what president biden is trying to do is tap into that base as well, announcing this in pittsburgh, a white working class area, you know, talking about roads and bridges and trying to maybe bring over support from traditional republican voters for a bill that he is trying to say will impact their lives. as republicans try to be a more populous party rather than the party of, say, 1%. republicans will say americans

will suffer from the 1%, but if biden can show everybody will benefit from this, as he did with his trillion-dollar recovery bill, he might say i have republican support, it's just not in the house or the senate because they're all playing politics. >> peter, there was a stat that i read in the "new york times," your paper, this morning from economists who even supported the tax cuts that admit the gdp did not change from the two years before the tax cuts and the two years after the tax cuts, 2.4%. with the tax cuts not doing anything for the average american, not trickling down from the corporations like the trump administration republicans promised they would, are democrats going to be able to remind enough voters or convince enough voters of that, given that there are some voters out there who saw their own personal tax bill go down at least a little bit because of that tax

break? >> you don't hear the biden people saying, we're going to pay for this by reversing the tax cuts that trump put in place. they're taking a different approach. rather than simply reversing those tax cuts because some of them did go to everyday americans, they're saying we're coming up with a whole new tax plan that will focus on the wealthy, and, of course, making the point that the trump tax plan did, in fact, help the wealthy so that part of it should be reversed. in other words, the corporate tax should go back up half as much as it went down under the trump plan. but, you know, taxes is such a visceral thing. even if people are not directly affected by somebody's tax plan, they're often distrustful that government will stop at those who are, quote, wealthy. and that's why republicans have been pretty uniform against big tax increases for a long time, because they found that it works. it works with their base. their base doesn't like the idea of higher taxes. i think they look at what

happened in 2009 when president obama and vice president biden, you know, passed a stimulus package that wasn't nearly as big as this without republican support, and the republicans didn't lose in the next midterm. in fact, they gained control of the house. they see this as a political winner. >> they always gripe at democrats being big on taxes. still ahead, activists step up the pressure against georgia companies with new voting restrictions in that state. 15 million doses -- 15 million doses -- of johnson & johnson single dose vaccine had to be thrown out. first up, though, there has been another mass shooting in america. we're going to go live in california where a gunman opened fire and killed four people, including a nine-year-old. nine-. hold my pouch. ♪

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there has been another mass shooting, this time in southern california. four people, including a child, were killed when a gunman opened fire at an office complex in orange last night. a fifth victim, a woman, is hospitalized and in critical condition. the suspected gunman was shot but survived. he has not yet been identified. joining me now from orange, california is nbc news correspondent steve patterson. steve, i know there was an update on this shooting, and i read it. it was really difficult to learn that the child was a nine-year-old boy who, officials say, seemed to have died in his mother's arms. >> reporter: yeah. a flood of new information on the suspected shooter, on the victims and the motive, and none of it is good. we'll start with the motive. this is important. police say this was not a random act of violence, that this was targeted, that the suspected shooter and the victims somehow

knew each other, that there was a personal or business relationship between all of the parties involved. secondly, the shooter, all we know is an age, and we do now know a name, katy. 44-year-old mevidav gonzalez. he is in the hospital with a gunshot wound. we don't know if that was a gunshot by police or self-inflicted. a woman in the hospital remaining in the hospital. we are learning she is stable, so that's good news. but back to the nine-year-old boy, it is the way the district attorney describes how police found him, wrapped in a woman's arms -- we don't know if it was the mother, but we know it was a woman's arms, presumably it was. let's just play it. >> this is child abuse prevention month, and it appears that a little boy died in his

mother's arms as she was trying to save him during this horrific massacre. >> reporter: so they recovered a semi-automatic handgun, a backpack with pepper spray and other assorted items, but one additional detail i have to tell you that i don't want to is that apparently the suspect used bicycle locks on the back gate and the front gate which ostensibly locked his victims in and kept police out at the same time. so when police arrived on scene, they heard constant gunfire, but they couldn't do much about it until bolt cutters arrived on scene. this may turn into a lying in wait enhancement which may be used by prosecutors to push for the death penalty, but that's far down the road. for now investigators still on scene. katy? >> steve patterson. steve, thank you so much, and i'm sorry this is the second mass shooting you've had to be at in just the past few weeks. steve patterson. >> thank you. new data on just how long the pfizer shot will protect

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texas children's hospital. dr. hotez, how does this happen? >> the reason it happens is operation warp speed focused very heavily on all new innovation and technology vaccines. these are vaccines that use technology that's never been scaled to this level where you're going to vaccinate a whole country, much less globally. when you start going from a small scale to now having to vaccinate tens of millions of people, that's brand new and there is a learning curve. i have a different spin on this, which is that it's actually amazing how well it's worked so far with rolling out the pfizer and moderna vaccines, and so yes, this is a glitch and it's a setback, but it could certainly be much worse given all the other new technology vaccines. >> let's also note that officials have said this does not apply to any of the vaccine that is already out there, the j&j vaccine, it was only what was in that factory that had not

been shipped yet. let's talk about good news. pfizer has another study. it announces that its vaccine lasts at least six months, effective up to six months later. also that, quote, 91% effective against symptomatic disease and was even more protective protecting against severe disease against the variant first detected in south africa. what does that mean, dr. hotez. >> a few things. first of all, katy, it's more good news in that the phase of the clinical trial started last year, so now we're at the point six months later where we can look at the effects of the vaccine. again, a brand new technology vaccine, and we have no clue about how long protection is going to last. the news is good, it's saying even after six months, it looks like it's really strong and durable, so this will be a long-lasting vaccine. >> dr. hotez, thank you so much. you'll be happy to know i got my second dose of the pfizer

vaccine today. i'd love to talk about it further but we have to go back into the derek chauvin trial. this next witness is named derrick smith. >> my name is derrick smith, d-e-r-e-k smith. last name is smith, traditional spelling, s-m-i-t-h. >> ms. eldridge? >> good afternoon, mr. smith. >> good afternoon. >> what do you do for work, sir? >> currently i am a paramedic with the ems. >> how long have you worked for the ems? >> going on four years this summer. >> have you worked as a paramedic or in the capacity of a paramedic before that? >> i worked for gwinnett county

down in georgia as a trainee. i also worked at els as a paid on-call firefighter for the city of andor. >> i'm having sorry hearing you. did you say els? >> bls. basic life support training. >> could you describe basic life support training? >> ems stuff for paramedic training. >> so before going through your paramedic training, did you receive some basic life support training? >> correct. >> all right. so in terms of your job as a paramedic with hennepin ems, what do you do on a day-to-day basis? >> we respond to various calls for emergency medical services in various environments. >> and are those wide-ranging?

could you give some examples of the types of calls you respond to? >> examples of calls i respond to, car accidents, intoxicated people, overdoses, seizures, heart attacks, stubbed toes. >> so it can be a variety of things, is that right? >> correct. >> does that include cardiac arrests? >> yes. >> and when you respond to a cardiac arrest, what does that mean? >> a cardiac arrest when i respond to that? >> what's a cardiac arrest? >> a cardiac arrest is an individual that is, in lay terms, dead, not producing a pulse, they're not breathing. >> so when you as a paramedic use terms like cardiac arrest or full arrest, is that what you

mean? >> they're, in lay terms, dead, yes. >> so i'm going to direct your attention to may 25th of last year. >> okay. >> were you on duty as a paramedic with hennepin ems that date? >> yes, i was. >> did you respond to a call that evening? >> yes, miss. >> could you move just a little bit back. there we go. >> sorry, sir. >> not a problem. we have to adjust for everybody. >> thank you, your honor. and if you can't hear me, please let me know, and if i can't hear you, i'll let you know. >> so getting back to may 25th, what was the initial code or the initial type of call that you understood you were responding to? >> we were called code 2, which means non-emergent to a mouth

injury. >> and at some point en route to that scene, was that call upgraded? >> yes. >> what was the information you had at that time in terms of the code rate? >> at that time it was code 3. >> what is code 3? >> lights and sirens, get there as quickly as possible. >> at that point in time, was that all the information you had in terms of first being code 2 and then code 3? did you have any additional information of why it was elevated to a code 3? >> at that time i had no additional information other than code 3. >> where did you ultimately respond to that code 3 call? was that at the area of 38th and chicago? >> that's correct. and. >> and what did you observe? what did you see when you arrived on scene?

>> i observed three squads, an individual lying down, three officers on the individual. there was multiple people, there was multiple cell phones out, there was elevated tones used. it didn't feel like a welcoming environment. >> so when you arrived and you said you saw three officers on top of an individual, that individual that they were on top of, was he later identified? >> yes. >> and was that individual identified to be george floyd? >> yes. >> so when you come up and you see the scene, three officers on top of george floyd, and you said other individuals with cell phones out, what did you do when you arrived? >> what did i do when i arrived on scene? assessed all corners around us, kind of just gauged what was

going on. i walked up to the individual, noticed he wasn't moving, didn't see any chest rise or fall on this individual. he was in handcuffs at the time. >> you said he was in handcuffs. as you approached him to inspect him further, was the officer still on top of him? >> the officer was still on him when i approached. >> what did you do when you approached? >> i was assessing the scene and running through what care may be needed. >> and did you take some initial steps, like checking for a pulse? >> i checked for a pulse. >> and did you also check the individual, mr. floyd's pupils? >> i did. >> what did you determine at that point? >> they were large, dilated. >> so you determined his pupils

were large and dilated. what about a pulse? >> i did not palpate a pulse. >> when you say that, you did not detect a pulse? >> did not detect a pulse. >> what did his condition seem to you to be overall? >> in lay terms, i thought he was dead. >> so what did you do next? >> i told my partner, i think he's dead. i want to move this and i will begin care in the back. >> did you say you would begin care in the back? >> of my rig. >> and is the rig where your equipment is to deal with something like a cardiac arrest? >> yes, miss. i want to show you exhibit 56,

so i'll just show it to you. can you see that on your screen? >> it's a little blurry, gut yeah. >> can you see it if it's adjusted? >> i get the gist of it, yeah. if you touch his carotid artery, there is no pulse. >> you recognize this image of yourself checking floyd's pulse. is that a fair picture of that? >> yes, miss. >> your honor, i would offer exhibit 56. >> 56 is received. >> i think you just described this is you checking for a carotid pulse, is that right? >> that's right. >> what is a carotid pulse? what does that mean? >> it's under the neck. we check that because it's closer to the heart.

it should be beating if you're up and breathing. i meant to say alive and breathing. >> you checked for a carotid pulse. what was yourself response to that? it would be one you would find if you were -- please finish your thought. >> repeat that, please. >> i apologize. >> no, it's on me. >> why do you check the carotid pulse and what would you expect? >> in a living person, there should be a pulse there. i did not feel one. i suspected this patient to be dead, in lay terms. >> at the moment that you're checking for this carotid pulse, are the officers still positioned on top of mr. floyd? >> yes. >> i'm going to take down exhibit 56 and i'm going to put on the screen an exhibit that's already been admitted as exhibit

248. if we could put that up, please. and then does this show a different angle of your initial -- what does this show here? do you see yourself in this picture? >> yes. >> what are you doing? >> i am in the top of the screen there in that brown uniform. >> you can use the stylus. it's a touch screen. what are you doing here? >> i'm using my flashlight and assessing what's going on here. >> in terms of using your flashlight, is that what you do? >> yes, miss. >> did you check both his pulse

and his pupils? >> yes. >> then what did you do? >> after i checked pulse and pupils, i told my partner i believed the victim to be deceased. i wanted to get off scene and i would care in the back. >> did you take steps to make that happen? >> we got our stretcher and we were starting to prep to move our patient. >> did you have any interaction with the officers in terms of moving the patient? >> once we got the stretcher on the ground, the officers were very helpful in moving the patient onto the canvas. >> so did the officers assist you in moving the patient? >> yes. >> did you have to provide some direction to them in terms of

moving the patient? >> yes. at one point i had to tell one to get out of my way. they were in my way. >> and then what -- why was that? what were you trying to accomplish? >> i wanted to get my patient to the rig so i could begin my assessment. he was on a stretcher and needed to be eliminated from that situation. >> you said as quickly as possible. why were you trying to get things done as quickly as possible? >> for my patient care. >> is timing something important when it comes to someone who is in cardiac arrest? >> yes. >> why is that? >> his heart isn't beating, and it should be, and the longer it isn't beating, the greater the likelihood this individual will not be resuscitated. >> so did you ultimately roll

the patient onto the ambulance? >> yes. >> did you end up -- did one of the officers on scene come with you? >> we had one officer from minneapolis, yes. >> why is that? >> i needed somebody to start chest compressions. >> when you arrived on scene, had there been any -- did you observe anyone rendering any medical care, chest compressions, when you arrived? >> when i arrived on scene, there was no medical services being provided to the patient. >> so when you got on the ambulance, did you do some further assessment of mr. floyd's condition? >> yes. >> and was it at that point -- well, what did you do next? >> when i'm back at the rig? >> yes. >> i had them shut the doors. i took the minneapolis police officer with me.

i started to declothe the individual to better -- >> just a second, sir. why do you have to do something like that? >> so better assess what's going on, to just get room to do my job and provide patient care. >> when you declothe an individual, does that provide further access in terms of any i.v. or other options for you? >> yes. >> so what did you observe at that point as you were doing your initial assess of mr. floyd? >> some superficial injuries to his face and shoulder appeared. i reconfirmed that he was pulseless and wasn't breathing. i had tie the handcuffs off, i had the clothes being removed so i could prepare to take care of this individual.

how did you get the handcuffs off? >> i have a key. >> do you normally have to take handcuffs off? >> yes. >> did you provide direction to the law enforcement officer who was with you? >> yes. >> what was the nature of that? >> i inquired of the events prior to my arrival, and i also directed him to do chest compressions. >> upon your direction, was that when chest compressions first began, to your knowledge? >> to my knowledge, chest compressions began when i initiated them with minneapolis p.d. >> when you say initiated them, was that a direction you gave to the officer? >> yes. >> i'm going to admit exhibit 57

and put it on the screen. walking back through what you just testified about, can you describe what's shown here? >> that is the patient on our stretcher. that is the back of our ambulance. that is me in a paramedic uniform. i am checking for a carotid pulse. >> was this subsequent to, after your initial check on the street? >> i was reconfirming my initial assessment. yes, he still did not have a pulse. >> and then let's move to exhibit 58, please. what are you doing in exhibit 58? >> checking for a pulse, repositioning. >> when you say repositioning, just tell the jury why you might

reposition somebody. >> i was hoping to find a pulse, reposition for an airway, just reconfirming that i needed to startno, miss. >> you were not able to detect a pulse? >> yes. >> and did he appear to be breathing? >> no, miss. >> exhibit 59. you indicated you had given direction to an officer to start chest compressions. can you describe what's shown here. >> it appears the officer starting chest compressions. >> and let's move to exhibit 60, please. and in terms of injuries noted, what injuries did you observe on mr. floyd? >> relatively superficial injuries that i don't believe at the time would resolve into

cardiac arrest. >> and i think you made two arrow, one to the nose area and one to the left shoulder area. in terms of your treatment of the patient were these -- you said superficial. were these not your primary concern? >> no. the cardiac arrest was my primary concern. and then we'll put exhibit 61 which has been admitted on the screen and again, just with respect to the injuries, is this image consistent with what you were describing? >> yes. facial. and you're pointing to -- you made an a reon the nose area. what did you observe there? >> i didn't suspect a life-threatening injury to go into cardiac arrest. >> but does that arrow indicate a finding of some kind? is there blood or something else you saw there? >> it appeared to be blood or a

superficial injury. >> that injury not life-threatening is what you're talking about? >> not in my opinion. >> you were dealing with the cardiac arrest? >> correct. >> okay. we can take that down, please. so ultimately, did you and your partner move the patient to another location. >> once the individual was loaded i redirected my partner to move us more secure and stable and update fire. >> when you say "update fire," what does that mean? >> to work on full rest. what is the message that you're trying to get across? is there a need that you have? >> i requested a code 3 as soon as i got on scene and i was reconfirming with my partner that i wanted a code 3 and where we were going to be going. please get there to help and i'm

in the back essentially working the cardiac arrest alone. >> what was your concern working a cardiac arrest alone and needing fire to come code 3. what is that? >> there's a lot to be done in a little bit of time and i'm only human. >> and does -- does a cardiac arrest require a lot of hands on? >> yes. >> okay. and while you're relocating and your partner is driving and you're in the back are you continuing to assess the patient and continuing to work on the patient? >> yes. >> so what, during that period of time, did you observe about his condition? maybe more specific, anything you noted about a rhythm or lack of rhythm when it came to -- >> once i got the pads on i noticed he was in asystole meaning he was not producing electrical activity in the heart and it's not profusing any blood flow.

>> so when you say once you got the pads on -- flat lined. >> you said flat lined, is that right? >> yeah. >> sorry. i'll shut up. go. >> it's okay. no problem. no problem, but let me back up just so that we're clear. i believe you said he was in asystole or flat lined once you got the pads on. can you describe how that works once you have pads on a patient, what are you able to see on your monitor? >> since i didn't feel a pulse i put the pads on because it shows the electrical rhythm on the monitor. it also allows us to provide defibrillation and the rhythm presented as such and being that it's asystole it's a non-shockable rhythm protocols. >> all right. i'll just follow up on that. you said the pads are connected to a zole monitor.

>> yes. >> what is a zole monitor? >> co2 readings and heart monitor. >> is that how you are able to see what's going on with respect with the patient's heart on your monitor? more or less, yes. >> you said he was in asystole which is a non-shockable rhythm. >> that's correct. >> is so does that defibrillation or applying a shock was want something you can do at that point. >> >> to my protocol, you don't shock asystole. >> why is that? >> that's not what you do. >> okay. >> there is a change of rhythm, to my understanding, it needs other interventions to get to a better rhythm. >> okay. >> so in terms of what it mean, right, when you say flat line or asystole, what does that mean in

terms of patient status? >> it means they're dead. >> okay. >> and what were you doing in terms of trying to provide whatever care you can provide knowing that he was in asystole. what were the next steps you took? >> i was working a cardiac arrest. >> and walk me through that. so when you work a cardiac arrest, what do you do? >> initiated chest compressions, and i was trying to get the locus together and trying to prep some meds and access points and stuff. >> at some point did your, after the ambulance was parked at another location, did your partner come back and assist with those things? >> yes.

>> and ultimately did -- did you set up the things that you needed to set up for your protocols in terms of iv and airway and those kinds of things? >> by the time my partner got in the back? >> right. >> i hadn't done everything, no, but i was in the process of attempting to resuscitate this individual. >> so while you were en route you were getting -- you were working on the patient and were you working continuously also when your partner came back after you were parked? >> yes. we were continuing to work the cardiac arrest. >> okay. >> and ultimately, did minneapolis firefighters meet you at the location as you had requested? >> eventually we met up. yes. >> and then what happened at that point? >> we had the officer leave.

fire took over breathing and we had all of the airways set up and oxygen. he was on the monitor and we had the locus going and i started handing out drugs because we had to mix our sodium biocarbs and the saline bag and get as much as you can. >> let me stop you there because you just told us a lot of information. you said handed out drugs. are there specific, any other particular druggious give when dealing with a cardiac arrest? >> yes. >> and did those include epinephrine and sodium bicarbonate? >> yes. >> and are there -- do you have particular concerns or particular courses of action when somebody may have been pulseless for a relatively extended period of time? >> yes. >> and many -- did you follow those protocols in this case? >> yes.

>> okay. so after the firefighters get on the ambulance and the officer leaves, at some point do you proceed on to -- to hennepin county medical center? >> at some point we ended up going. >> and what was the determining factor in that? what had to happen before you were able to move to the hospital in your view? >> in my view, we got him to a relatively stable position where i could manage his cardiac arrest. we had the firefighters now. we had airways secured and we had some various drugs onboard, we had the locus doing the chest compressions and i was able to conduct more or less, this cardiac arrest while providing the treatment en route. >> and while you were en route, that treatment continued. were you actively working on him the whole time you were with

him? >> yes. >> and while you were traveling en route to the hospital did you at some point deliver a shock or administer a shock? >> yes. >> can you just describe why you did that and how it came about? >> i was checking and monitoring the patient and i believe i saw a pulse and that was a differential go rhythm for my protocol and that indicates defibrillation which i provided. >> when did you detect pulses electrical activity? >> en route to hennepin medical center. >> and i think you just said that is a shockable rhythm per your protocols? >> yes. pulses is a shockable protocol. >> you -- what made you notice the change? in terms of the