Seeley Lake Fire Chief ordered to take education course after 2022 incident

The Seeley Lake Rural Fire District Chief must complete four hours of continuing education after the Montana Board of Medical Examiners ruled he acted unprofessional during an emergency call in March 2022.

Dave Lane, who has been chief since 2018, was adjudicated by the Montana Medical Examiners Board on Sept. 29 for a call he responded to on March 4, 2022. The board originally recommended action on Lane's case during a private hearing in October 2022.

In the case, a Seeley Lake woman was suffering from uncontrolled bleeding. Facts of the case presented by the medical board show Lane took the patient's pulse and skin condition, but did not take her blood pressure or give the patient intravenous fluids.

Lane said in his report that the patient acted "bitter and vulgar" towards him. He then gave control of the situation to Rita Rossi, an EMT with the Seeley Lake Rural Fire District.

Lane, however, is a paramedic, which is a higher level of care compared to an EMT. After Rossi took control of the situation, she had to call Lane back to the ambulance - at that point sitting on the side of Highway 83 - to run an IV for the patient.

Rossi did not have the qualifications to run an IV.

Adjudication documents said the patient's vital signs improved, but her demeanor did not, and Lane and Rossi called in a Life Flight to Seeley Lake Medical Center, turned the ambulance around, and waited for the helicopter to arrive.

The patient later made a formal complaint to the Board of Medical Examiners.

The Board of Medical Examiners said three professional medical rules were broken during the incident: not taking the patient's blood pressure, no immediate IV fluids, and handing off a patient to a lower level of care.

"Mr. Lane has agreed to the conclusion of law that his failure to assess vital signs, immediately start an IV, and his transferring of patient care to a lower credential provider constitutes unprofessional conduct," the board wrote.

Lane must spend at least two of his four training hours on patient assessments, while the other two hours must cover ethics and patient relationships.

The Pathfinder spoke with the patient in the incident, who disputed several points of the case, including the statement she was bitter and vulgar to Lane, and that Lane was following behind the ambulance after control of the situation was handed over to Rossi.

She added that the time from her call to 911 to boarding the Life Flight helicopter was nearly two hours.

The Pathfinder has requested all 911 tapes from Missoula County concerning the 2022 incident, which is pending review. The Pathfinder has also requested the Seeley Lake Rural Fire District incident report from March 4, 2022. Seeley Lake Rural Fire District radio dispatch from the incident was unavailable, according to the department.

This story will be updated as new information is reported