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Anonymous letter to MEMS chief sparks investigation

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AUGUSTA, Maine - An investigation has begun into whether Lebanon Fire and Rescue personnel have been told to use expired supplies, the director of Maine Emergency Medical Services has confirmed.

The probe was confirmed late last week by MEMS Director Shaun St. Germain, who said he received an anonymous letter from someone claiming to be on the department on July 12.

The Lebanon Voice also received a copy of the anonymous letter around the same date.

The letter also contains an interoffice memo in which another member of the department apparently notes, "Yes we are very low on supplies at this time, so please be patient," later urging staff to go ahead and use expired supplies.

"Also being that we are so low for now I'm asking you to please use the supplies we have some have expired they are still good if the packaging is OK (quote is verbatim, no punctuation)."

The message ends in part by adding that the order does not pertain to any medications, however.

St. Germain said on Thursday that the use of expired supplies, while concerning, likely wouldn't result in any drastic or punitive action.

"We wouldn't take an ambulance out of service over it, but we would advise them not to use expired supplies," St. Germain said.

He said any results of the investigation would remain confidential until a hearing is held after its completion.

In the letter the writer wonders if they could be held liable for using expired supplies on a patient.

Some ambulance supplies that have expiration dates include nasal cannulas (oxygen nose tubes) and other oxygen delivery devices as well as IVs, St Germain said.

A production coordinator at Rose Medical, a Michigan medical device manufacturing company, said medical supplies that have expiration dates are normally those that are sterilized and rely on gases inside the packaging to keep them sterile.

"When those gases expire, they (the supplies) are no longer sterile whether the packaging is intact or not," Mary Holwerda said today.

St. Germain said while he would have preferred the letter hadn't been anonymous, he added that the letter writer's claim that those who complain are "blacklisted" and don't get per diem shifts was plausible enough reason for anonymity.

St. Germain said it was unclear how long the investigation would take.

The Lebanon Voice attempted to contact Lebanon Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Meehan for comment on this story, but several phone calls were not returned.

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