Savanna Ambulance argues agency not liable for conduct of paramedic who declared Jackson Kradle dead

SAVANNA, Ill. – The Savanna Community Ambulance Association (SCAA) argues their agency is not responsible for an off-duty paramedic’s alleged misconduct at scene where Jackson Kradle died.

The SCAA is a private nonprofit organization who has been contracted with the City of Savanna to provide ambulance services since 2003, according to the city.

The paramedic in question is Amy Hubble, who was also a dispatcher with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, and was off-duty when she assessed Kradle’s body the morning he died, according to police reports and sworn testimony.

Hubble was the passenger in now-former Carroll County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Herpstreith’s truck when he allegedly ran over and killed Kradle around 3:30 a.m. July 28, 2024, after consuming alcohol in the hours leading up to the incident, according to prosecutors and sworn testimony.

Authorities say Hubble was the first, and only, qualified medical professional to assess Kradle at the scene of the crash before declaring him dead.

In Nov. 2024, the Illinois Department of Public Health found that the OSF Northern Region EMS System determined Hubble violated EMS policies the morning Kradle died, in a letter I obtained in July.

Meanwhile, both Hubble and the SCAA were included as Defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Kradle’s parents.

Allegations.

The complaint, filed July 24 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Western Division, alleges Hubble was intoxicated and not qualified to render a determination of Kradle’s medical status.

At around 11:22 p.m. on July 27, about four hours prior to assessing Kradle’s body, Hubble is heard on a recorded phone call with on-duty Carroll County Dispatcher Rebecca Frederick admitting she is drunk while driving and asks where cops were located to avoid being caught.

^{Hubble uses non-emergency line to call Frederick (Carroll County Sheriff’s Office)}

During January’s inquest, fellow off-duty dispatcher Kayla Russell, who is the last known person to be with Hubble and Herpstreith before encountering Kradle’s body, testified Hubble was an 8 out of 10 in regard to her level of intoxication.

Furthermore, video, testimony and recorded interviews with state police, indicate Hubble may have been drinking alcohol in the hours leading up to Kradle’s death.

The lawsuit goes on to claim that Hubble, ‘failed to take reasonable action to summon medical care, where she knew from her observations that Jackson Kradle was in need of immediate medical care, with utter indifference to, or in conscious disregard for, the safety of others; and was otherwise negligent or willful and wanton.’

OSF Northern Region EMS System’s formal policies, regarding in-field termination of lifesaving measures, provide a list of definitive signs of death where a paramedic may be given authority to presume death and immediately contact the coroner.

Patient with definitive signs of death include at least one of the following:

• Rigor mortis
• Dependent lividity
• Decomposition of body tissues
• Injury clearly incompatible with life:
– Decapitation
– Incineration
– Separation of vital internal organs from the body or total destruction of organs.
– Gunshot wound to the head that clearly crosses the midline (entrance and exit)

Patients meeting the above conditions do not require Medical Direction contact prior to calling Coroner.

If the above criteria is not met, OSF provides guidance for paramedics performing lifesaving measures prior to transport:

A. CPR initiated.
B. Airway Management
C. AED/cardiac monitor applied.
D. AHA Guidelines followed for a minimum of 20 minutes. At 20 minutes consider transporting the patient, continuing treatment, or discontinuing treatment.
G. If termination is approved, contact Coroner of patient death.
– Note time of death and confirm signs.
– Remain on scene until coroner, law enforcement, or other appropriate professional arrives.

Furthermore, within a crime scene, OSF policies state, ‘every effort to cooperate with law enforcement should be made.’

OSF IN-FIELD TERMINATION Download

According to police reports, sworn testimony and dispatch calls, Hubble said she found ‘brain matter’ near Kradle and declared him dead without performing any lifesaving measures. She also did not use any equipment to verify death.

^{Herpstreith, with Hubble, use non-emergency line to report finding Kradle. (Carroll County Sheriff’s Offi}^ce)

Carroll County Coroner Matthew Jones confirmed at the inquest there was no brain matter documented at the scene.

Mt. Carroll Police Officer Scott Marth arrived on scene around 3:36 a.m. but when Carroll County Deputy Josi Anderson arrived around 3:46 a.m., Marth had already released Hubble and Herpstreith from the scene, according to police reports and sworn testimony.

No ambulance was ever dispatched to the scene. Furthermore, another medical professional would not arrive until more than two hours later, records show.

When asked at the inquest if he would do anything differently on scene, knowing what he knows now, Marth said, ‘I would have just asked them to stick around until the responding deputy got there.’

Click link below to view all OSF EMS policies.

OSF R1 EMS POLICIES Download

SCAA responds.

On Nov. 5, the Savanna Community Ambulance Association filed a Reply Brief in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss, outlining why the defense believes the charge of Wrongful Death against the SCAA, ‘remains fatally flawed on its face and warrants dismissal with prejudice.’

In response to allegations Hubble was intoxicated when she assessed Kradle the morning he died while acting in apparent official capacity as a paramedic, the SCAA argues any alleged misconduct would not have occurred within the scope employment due to the fact she was off-duty at the time, according to the brief.

Furthermore, the SCAA argues the agency ‘owed no legal duty’ to Kradle, writing, ‘Hubble’s alleged unilateral decision to examine the decedent, while intoxicated and off duty, cannot establish a duty on the part of SCAA,’ according to the brief.

The SCAA adds, ‘an employer bears no liability for an employee’s unauthorized, off-duty, and purely personal conduct,’ according to the brief.

The SCAA claims they are not aware of any authority imposing a legal duty on an EMS provider to, ‘supervise or prevent off-duty, private conduct of an employee, particularly at a time when the employee is not on call, on duty, or engaged in any organizational function,’ according to the brief.

The Illinois Emergency Medical Services Systems Act, the SCAA argues, ‘provides complete immunity from civil liability to an EMS ‘provider’ or ‘entity,’ absent willful and wanton misconduct,’ according to the brief.

“Hubble’s alleged intoxication, while perhaps evidence of negligence, does not establish SCAA’s own intentional misconduct,” the SCAA writes, “Plaintiffs cannot bootstrap alleged individual misconduct to avoid statutory immunity for the organization.”

Furthermore, the SCAA claims the Plaintiffs assertion Kradle ‘could have survived’ if Hubble asked for an ambulance is ‘pure speculation,’ according to the brief.

The SCAA concludes the Plaintiffs in this case have not, and cannot, establish a factual basis for the following allegations:

1. Hubble was acting within the scope of any employment or agency relationship.

2. SCAA owed a legal duty to Kradle.

3. SCAA is not entitled to immunity under the EMS Act and Tort Immunity Act.

4. Any alleged act or omission, ‘proximately caused the death of Kradle.

The SCAA is asking the court to dismiss the case with prejudice, according to the brief.

SCAA MOTION TO DISMISS Download

CITY OF SAVANNA DISMISSED.

On Sep. 22, the City of Savanna was dismissed from the lawsuit without prejudice, court records show.

DISMISSAL-CITY OF SAVANNA Download

Other Defendants.

Marth and Frederick have both filed motions to dismiss the case, court records show.

Hubble has not yet formally responded directly to the claims, but has switched lawyers, court records show.

Herpstreith is asking the court to halt the case citing ongoing criminal case.

A pretrial conference for Herpstreith is set for Friday at 3 p.m. at the Carroll County Courthouse, court records show.

Read more about Jackson Kradle.