A Yucca Valley paramedic accused of stealing morphine from a County ambulance had his license revoked by the state earlier this month. According to the California Emergency Medical Services Authority, Blake Attaway, a firefighter-paramedic with Station 41 in Yucca Valley, stole morphine from the fire department on 20 to 30 occasions between October 2012 and February 2013, when the thefts were discovered by a battalion chief and reported to law enforcement. Attaway admitted that he injected himself with the drug while on duty in order to get high. Attaway said he extracted the morphine from vials, replaced the morphine he stole with saline, replaced the vial caps with glue, and then returned the vials to the ambulance’s stock. Attaway’s colleagues would then unwittingly use the adulterated morphine to treat patients who required emergency medical care. Attaway also admitted to falsifying patient care records, and forging a nurse’s signature to cover up his thefts. The order states Attaway’s paramedic license was revoked because he demonstrated poor personal and professional judgment, lack of trustworthiness, disregard of protocol, disrespect for laws regulating dangerous drugs, absence of self-control, and contemptuous disregard for patient welfare. Attaway’s paramedic license was temporarily revoked July 2, and permanently revoked August 28; the revocation took effect 20 days later. Blake Attaway was arraigned in Joshua Tree Superior Court September 12 on a charge of embezzlement of property by a public official; he was not present at the arraignment and court records label him as a fugitive.
