Graffiti of George Floyd. COURTESY
Two paramedics have told a Minneapolis court that George Floyd had no pulse and did not appear to be breathing when they arrived at the scene. Former police officer Derek Chauvin is accused of killing Mr Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest in May 2020.
Paramedic Seth Bravindar said he had to ask Mr Chauvin to get off Mr Floyd so that they could access the patient. Earlier, the court heard emotional testimony from Mr Floyd's girlfriend. Courteney Ross described their first kiss, and their struggle with opioid addiction on the fourth day of Mr Chauvin's trial.
What was the paramedics' testimony?
Mr Bravinder said the initial call-out was deemed non-life threatening although that soon changed. He told the court he initially thought that a struggle was taking place when he and his partner arrived on the scene, but quickly realised that Mr Floyd, 46, was limp. Asked about video footage showing him gesturing to Mr Chauvin, Mr Bravinder said he wanted to "have him move" and this was "so we could move the patient".
His partner Derek Smith checked Mr Floyd's neck for a pulse but could not find one. "In lay terms, I thought he was dead," Mr Smith said. "When I arrived on scene there was no medical services being provided to the patient," he added.
Mr Bravinder cradled Mr Floyd's head to prevent it from hitting the road as they transferred him to a stretcher. They put him in an ambulance and started chest compressions.
At one point Mr Smith thought he saw electrical activity from Mr Floyd's heart and delivered an electrical shock to try to restart it. "He was a human being and I was trying to give him a second chance at life," he said.
Mr Bravinder said he had to stop the ambulance en route to the hospital to help his colleague after the heart monitor showed Mr Floyd had flatlined - his heart had stopped. All further efforts to resuscitate Mr Floyd failed.
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