9.Daniel Dougherty — Direct/Cross/Redirect
222 linesMS. SPRAGUE: Commonwealth calls Daniel Dougherty.
MR. REDDINGTON: Same objection.
THE COURT: Overruled.
THE COURT: Let him testify. Come on in, sir.
COURT CLERK: Good morning. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony and the evidence you shall give to the court and the jury in the matter now pending between the Commonwealth and the defendant at the bar shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Thank you. You may have a seat, sir.
THE COURT: Watch your step, please.
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: All right. Good morning, sir.
THE COURT: Good morning.
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: All right.
MS. SPRAGUE: My mic. Thank you. Good morning. Can you please state and spell your name for the record?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Daniel Dougherty, D-O-U-G-H-E-R-T-Y.
MS. SPRAGUE: And your date of birth?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: 8/27/1986.
MS. SPRAGUE: Where do you work?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Duxbury Fire Department.
MS. SPRAGUE: How long have you been with the Duxbury Fire Department?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Five and a half years, full-time.
MS. SPRAGUE: Are you also a paramedic?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And how long have you been a paramedic?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Four years.
MS. SPRAGUE: And have you completed all the training and education and certification required to be a paramedic?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: I wanna direct your attention to January 24th, 2023. Were you working that day?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I was.
MS. SPRAGUE: And were you working a 24-hour shift?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: Did you... What was your role that day on shift?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Firefighter paramedic.
MS. SPRAGUE: And sometime after 6:00 PM, did you respond to 47 Summer Street in Duxbury?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And when you responded, who was with you?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Firefighter Heath was driving, and Firefighter Nudd was in the back.
MS. SPRAGUE: And so you're in ambulance one at that time?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Mm-hmm.
MS. SPRAGUE: Is that a yes?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And when you arrive at 47 Summer Street, what do you see?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: There was two police cruisers either blocking the driveway or near it. So we pulled ahead of it, stopped the truck and got out.
MS. SPRAGUE: And did you head to get equipment and head to the backyard?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what did you see in the backyard?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: We had Officer Hall kinda directing us towards the side of the... or to the side gate. And from there, we went around to the back of the house.
MS. SPRAGUE: And did you see a female on the ground?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: We did.
MS. SPRAGUE: And did you learn that was Lindsay Clancy?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: Do you recall what she was wearing?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I believe it was jeans and a tank top.
MS. SPRAGUE: Did she also have socks on?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I believe so.
MS. SPRAGUE: And did you examine her or assess her once you reached her?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what, if any, injuries did you observe?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: She had lacerations to both wrists as well as her neck.
MS. SPRAGUE: And were those lacerations actively bleeding?
MS. SPRAGUE: Can you describe the lacerations that you saw on her neck?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: There was dried blood. Seemed to be somewhat superficial since there was no active bleed.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what about the cuts on her wrists?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Same.
MS. SPRAGUE: And...
MS. SPRAGUE: When you say same, are you saying that there was no active bleeding there?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And what, if anything, did you do to treat those wounds?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: We bandaged them up. I believe we placed a ABD pad, just a sterile pad, on her neck as well.
MS. SPRAGUE: You said an APD or a sterile pad. Is that just a type of like gauze or something—
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: … that you put on the wounds?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes. Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And so you did that, and then you bandaged the wrist or vice versa?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: It was the wrist first, I believe. But we did secure the airway first, before bandaging her wrist.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. So when you first arrived, is she breathing on her own?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: She was.
MS. SPRAGUE: Was she responsive?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Somewhat.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what does that mean?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Not totally responsive. Pretty much to painful stimuli.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what is painful stimuli?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: As we were moving her, she somewhat regained consciousness on us.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And painful stimuli, is that when someone reacts physically or verbally to pain?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And so you said that you assess her when you first get there. You said you did the airway first. Is that right?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And how did you go about doing that?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: We placed an OPA device to secure her tongue down just to protect her airway.
MS. SPRAGUE: What's an OPA device?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: It's a plastic device that depresses the tongue just to keep the airway open.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. So it's not the tube that goes down?
MS. SPRAGUE: It's just something that holds the tongue down?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: That's correct.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And after you did that, what was the next step?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: We placed a non-rebreather air mask on her and set the oxygen.
MS. SPRAGUE: So that... Is that just a mask that goes on the face providing oxygen?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And then what did you do next?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: From there, that's when we heard the scream.
MS. SPRAGUE: And so what... Did you bandage the neck and the wrist before the breathing, securing the breathing, or after?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: That was after.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. So just to be clear, first is securing the tongue down, putting the oxygen mask on, and then you did the bandaging?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: That was... That came later, yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: Later, okay. So was the bandaging before or after you heard the screams?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: That was after.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. So when you hear the screaming, what, if anything, do you do?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I looked at Captain Hussey and Captain or Firefighter Heath, and we kinda all looked at each other trying to figure out what was going on.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And did any of you leave the area after hearing the screaming?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Captain Hussey did. Firefighter Heath went to go get a backboard for the patient.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And did you stay with Lindsay Clancy?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I did.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And then is it at that point that you do the bandaging, or after you get the backboard?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Kevin was gone for a while, so that's when I started bandaging up her wrists.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And...
MS. SPRAGUE: Did he eventually return with the backboard?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: He did not.
MS. SPRAGUE: So you bandaged the wrists. What happens next?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I believe it was Officer Hall came to the backyard. He asked if I needed anything. I told him the board, kinda gave him a direction of where in the truck it was. And then he also left to go grab that for me.
MS. SPRAGUE: And when you say the board, are you referring to the backboard?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And did he return with a backboard?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And was Ms. Clancy loaded onto the backboard?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: She was.
MS. SPRAGUE: And who assisted you with that?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: It was Officer Hall, I believe, and our retired deputy.
MS. SPRAGUE: And is there a process that you follow when placing someone onto a board to ensure that you don't cause further damage?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And what is that process?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Just C-spine precautions. So you secure the neck and kinda make sure that it's immobilized as you kinda move the patient.
MS. SPRAGUE: So what did you do to secure her neck?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: We had someone at her neck, I don't remember who it was, just kinda hold steady that her neck didn't move in the process.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And then did you follow that protocol, the C-spine protocol, to safely put her onto the backboard?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And at some point was a collar placed around her neck?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I believe so, yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And then what happened next?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I believe I got on the radio and asked our captain who was transporting first, because we knew that there was multiple patients at that point.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And what were you told?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Pembroke was on its way in. They may have just arrived, and she was going with Pembroke.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And were you part of the team that transported her from the backyard to the Pembroke ambulance?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And did you help load her into the Pembroke ambulance?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And did you go with them during that transport?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I did not.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. After Ms. Clancy was loaded into the ambulance, did it leave?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: What did you do next?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I went to our ambulance that was in the driveway at that point.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. And was Dawson Clancy in that ambulance?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: He was.
MS. SPRAGUE: And did you ride in the ambulance to the hospital with Dawson Clancy?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I did.
MS. SPRAGUE: What was your role in that ambulance?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I was operating the bag valve mask for him.
MS. SPRAGUE: Okay. So you're trying to provide...[audio missing]
MR. REDDINGTON: Are you an EMT, a paramedic, or—
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Paramedic.
MR. REDDINGTON: Paramedic?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Mm-hmm.
MR. REDDINGTON: And how long do you study for that?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Two years plus.
MR. REDDINGTON: Would that be full-time studying, or are you working at the same time?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I was working at the same time.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay. Do you know on that evening what the temperature was outside?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: It was cold.
MR. REDDINGTON: Wicked cold, wasn't it?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Mid-30s.
MR. REDDINGTON: It was lower than that, wasn't it?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I couldn't... I was a couple—
MR. REDDINGTON: It was really cold.
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yeah.
MR. REDDINGTON: And how long was she laying in the snow and on the ground?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: We got the call at 6:00ish, or whatever time it was.
MR. REDDINGTON: Okay.
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: We responded—
MR. REDDINGTON: And the call came because her husband came home from picking up food and found her on the ground, right?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: So you don't know how long she was laying in the snow on the ground, right?
MR. REDDINGTON: In the cold.
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: And what's hemostasis, do you know?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: What's that?
MR. REDDINGTON: What's hemostasis? What does that mean?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Just the coagulation.
MR. REDDINGTON: And you know what the effect of hypothermia... Let me ask you, what's hypothermia?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: It's just the body under temperature of the body.
MR. REDDINGTON: Under temperature of the body?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Or your body is not at temperature that it should be.
MR. REDDINGTON: Right, because of the environment, right?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Correct.
MR. REDDINGTON: Cold, right?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes. Yeah.
MR. REDDINGTON: Sometimes it can be medically induced, right?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Mm-hmm.
MR. REDDINGTON: Hypothermia affects the blood flow, doesn't it?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: In fact, you actually have a thing called therapeutic hypothermia, right?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Mm-hmm.
MR. REDDINGTON: Like, if they have to restrict the blood flow to either a heart or a brain or something, that a person can be induced medically to be cold.
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MR. REDDINGTON: And it would restrict blood flow, right?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Mm-hmm.
MR. REDDINGTON: So all these questions about whether or not there's blood seeping through the wrist bandages, and whether or not there's blood seeping from the holes from the neck brace, you don't know what effect the hypothermia, if any, had on that, would you?
MR. REDDINGTON: Thank you, sir.
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Mm-hmm.
MR. REDDINGTON: That's all I have for you.
THE COURT: Redirect.
MS. SPRAGUE: Sir, there's typically heat in a hospital, correct?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Usually, yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And were you aware that, well, Ms. Clancy went to South Shore Hospital, correct?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Yes.
MS. SPRAGUE: And are you aware that the wounds on her wrist did not have to be sutured until the following day?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: I didn't get any of that information after.
MS. SPRAGUE: Were you aware that the wound on her neck never had to be sutured?
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Same answer.
MS. SPRAGUE: Thank you.
THE COURT: Anything further? Thank you, sir.
DANIEL DOUGHERTY: Thank you.
THE COURT: You can step down. Thank you.