A Texas man says EMS delayed taking him to the hospital after a car crash because they wanted to search him first. He claims the delay happened because he’s Black, and said he plans to pursue legal action. Viewers were split between defending the responders’ protocol and backing his call for a lawyer.
Posted to TikTok by @mr..aura777, the first video shows the Texas man confronting a first responder, later identified in the comments as a medical director, after the crash. “Inadequate care, that’s what’s going on here,” he says. He claims responders rush other people to the emergency room, but did not rush him because of his skin color. Then says he plans to hold them all accountable in court.
The Texas man later shared two more videos. In one, he tells other first responders and firefighters he’s suing them for violating his rights. Then in the other, he sits in an ambulance while he talks with a doctor about his concussion.
According to the caption for the video, the creator says he suffered a concussion and a C5 fracture. He claims EMS delayed his transport because they wanted to search him first. He says he committed no crime and made no threat.
TikTok Reacts
Working EMS and fire personnel used the comments to talk about how draining jobs like this can be. “These are the type of shifts I go home and drink about fr. bc why are you yelling at me for doing my job?” one person shared. Another argued that “This is exactly why EMS and fire deserve to be paid more.”
Other viewers defended the responders, pointing out that his ability to stay alert and argue could be a sign that he was stable. They also noted that hospitals triage patients based on severity, not who arrived first. One firefighter explained why routine searches can be necessary, saying they had seen cases where an unsearched patient turned out to be armed by the time they reached the hospital.
Not every commenter agreed with how the situation was handled, though. Across his other videos, several urged the Texas creator to pursue legal action, with one arguing fire personnel don’t have the authority to search anyone at all and urging him to “lawyer up.” Another was far more direct. “Man PLEASE Sue We Don’t Sue Enough.”
Medical racism is real, and people of color continue to report experiencing bias and unequal treatment in healthcare. But in this case, many commenters felt the interaction had nothing to do with race and that the responders were simply following standard procedures.
