Ambulance driver in hot water over post of mangled leg
Instagram photo with the hashtag “byebyeankle” called demeaning; driver later made apology
SAN PABLO — A Bay Area couple is upset with an ambulance driver’s decision to post a picture of their adult son’s badly mangled leg onto Instagram, along with the hashtag “byebyeankle.”
Earlier this month, the family filed a lawsuit against Falcon Critical Care Transport, as well as Jacob Uyeyama, who the suit says posted the picture while he worked at Falcon in March.
The suit was filed on behalf of Keyano Fiel, who sustained life-threatening injuries during a motorcycle crash in Vallejo in March, including severe brain damage, and injury to an ankle that required amputation.
His family says the posting was demeaning, noting hash tags like “the louder you scream the faster we go” or “once the doors close your( butt) is mine.”
“To take a pic, hashtag and tag your company, that takes several minutes, and my son was fighting for his life at that time,” said Linette Fiel, Keyano Fiel’s mother. “We entrust our loved ones with medical personnel, and that’s all we had to hold on to at that moment ... Wasn’t there something more productive he could have done?”
Making matters worse, Linette Fiel said her other children came across the Instagram posting, and that’s how they learned their brother’s leg was injured beyond repair.
Neither Falcon’s attorney nor its staff returned phone requests for comment. It is unclear if Uyeyama is still employed there.
The picture’s caption read: “This is what happens when you are careless in the rain on your motorcycle. Be careful on the roads out there people... I don’t want to have to give you a ride in my booboo bus.”
After the family found out about the Instagram posting, Uyeyama sent them a written apology, saying he intended the posting to be a “promotion of public safety.”
“My post was not meant to be insulting or demeaning to anyone,” Uyeyama wrote, later adding, “I understand that I made a big mistake, and I will learn from this poor choice.”
Keyano Fiel’s father, Rex Fiel, said he “believes in forgiveness,” but is still upset over the posting.
“Imagine if (Keyano) had come across that hashtag; what would I be able to say to him?” Rex Fiel said. “I’m his dad, I’m supposed to protect him, I’m supposed to be the one to stand up for him.”
The incident is one of numerous examples of new privacy issues in the medical field that have come up since the advent of social media.
In recent years, medical boards across the country have seen an increase in complaints related to al- leged privacy violations over online postings.
In 2014, the American Medical Association provided written guidelines for social media postings. The AMA acknowledged that there could be a public benefit to certain postings, but encouraged medical professionals to “consistently apply ethical principles for preserving the... confidentiality, privacy, and respect for persons to online settings and communications.”
UCSF’s policy states that employees must obtain written consent before posting videos, photos, or details of a patient’s injuries. Contact Nate Gartrell at 925-779-7174.