Oaks at Mill Creek/Village Greens Properties Still Suck
Seems there’s more to the case of the apartment complex employee who was fired than was initially released. It’s not unexpected, as that’s usually the case. However, I think it reflects even more poorly on the management of the property than on Colin. It has cemented that I would never ever live in their properties and I would strongly recommend that unless you want you have your name trashed publicly and confidential information leaked, then you probably should avoid the company as well.
The owner of the Oaks at Mill Creek, Village Green Companies, provided Channel 4 a timeline of events that included information that Bruley was notified of the company policy about firearms at a new hire orientation in Spring 2005, received updated emergency plans and procedures in March and April of this year.
That’s fine. They just revealed that they tell their employees repeatedly to give up their lives for their jobs. The problem is tat Bruley wasn’t on the job at the time, so it really doesn’t matter. They keep trying to act like this is in any way relevant. When he’s not on the clock, he’s not an employee. It’s not like he brought shame to the company name.
n apartment leasing agent fired last week after grabbing his shotgun and running to help a woman who was shot is being praised by talk-show host Neal Boortz, celebrated on Internet blogs, supported by the National Rifle Association and called a hero by a columnist with the Washington Post. …
While his neighbors (ed. – their customers) commended his actions, Bruley’s employers fired him for violating company policy.
You can’t pay for publicity like that. Bad, bad PR move for the management.
The company said Bruley’s rent was delinquent and his May rent check had bounced, according to the company.
So now they go on the attack. It’s fine if they want to deal with these problems as they are, but they have nothing to do with the issue of firing him for owning and safely using a firearm to protect his life and that of his neighbors – their customers. (I don’t know why the apartment complex would assume they would benefit from a dead customer base.)
This is a low, low attack. Releasing financial information is a BIG FREAKIN’ NO-NO. Just like credit card companies don’t go around posting the names of people they denied and banks don’t run ads noting everyone who has ever had a check bounce, these are things that a well run business simply does not do. Deal with it privately, don’t trash someone’s name and financial status in the press. If I were an employee of the company, I’d be talking to a lawyer about what to do if they started releasing my private data in public because obviously, they have no problem with playing dirty. As a resident, I’d be even more concerned.
They said Burley’s lease was missing from the management office.
So they can’t keep track of records, either. Again, it doesn’t speak highly. I would advise all current residents to pull out their own copies of their leases and quickly make additional copies. Management obviously can’t handle something as simple as keeping files and information on hand.
The company also said that a police officer said Bruley’s attempt at medical aid to the victim of the June 12 shooting at the apartments “actually caused the victim more harm than good.”
So leaving her out there to die was the better option? And who is this police officer? Give a name, give a time and we’ll see what medical background he has to make such an assessment. This is probably one of the lowest blows simply because it’s a statement of malice. At this point, it’s no longer about business and they just want to trash the guy as much as possible. There is absolutely no reason this statement should have been part of any interview or press release at all. It shows just how juvenile the management of Oaks at Mill Creek/Village Greens Properties are about their own actions. They feel they must attack good samaritans just to make themselves feel better.
Honestly, you can’t buy the kind of positive PR that Colin created for the complex. An apartment employee goes out and proactively helps a neighbor/customer who has been shot in a domestic dispute before authorities can get to the scene while off the clock. Talk about impressive. Even if he doesn’t do a perfect job with medical treatment, that’s why we have good samaritan protections in the law. Instead of privately talking to him about concerns with the defensive gun possession since Colin didn’t know if a gunman was still on the loose, they have opted to trash him by making statements that can’t be backed up and releasing private information. Poorly handled all around, and I would question how they would treat any resident/customer who didn’t have the power of the national press on their side.
From a PR perspective, they would be good to not only issue a public apology for the behavior of a rogue employee making unverified statements, but to also at least offer Colin a month or two free as a financial reward, but to give him time to pack up and leave if they wanted him out of the complex. They can’t win this battle, but they really need to stop digging their own grave. The problem they face is that nowadays, many potential leasees search the internet for complaints about various apartment complexes. This post and those news stories will always be associated with the company. Future residents will know that if they piss off one person in the management office, financial records may be disclosed, reputations may be attacked and the office might even “lose” the lease and force the resident to come up with a copy just to protect basic tenant rights.
No obviously related posts.
I’ve had basic first responder training, given by our local FD’s chief of EMS, and he was adamant that the use of a tourniquet was only a last resort option.
Direct pressure, elevation, and pressure points are preferred. Only if all of these fail, and only with great care, should you consider using a tourniquet. He related one instance to us where a carpenter had cut off several fingers with a saw. His friends, thinking they were helping, put a tourniquet on his arm. He ended up losing most of the arm due to damage done by the tourniquet. If they’d given pressure and elevation time to work, it’s likely he would still have his arm and hand (minus the fingers).
Once one is applied, it must not be removed except by trained medical personnel. A tourniquet cuts off blood flow to the entire limb below where it’s tied. Loss of blood flow causes the cells to slowly die due to loss of oxygen. As the cells die, they release various chemicals into the tissues and the blood becomes acidic. When the tourniquet is released, that acidic blood flows through the body and can cause shock and/or death if not handled correctly.
Best not to use one unless you have no choice.
Anyhow, you’re correct that as a good samaritan he should have legal protection as he didn’t seem to be operating out of malice. And it doesn’t excuse the actions of his management, either in firing him or attempting to smear him after the fact to cover their own sorry asses. I just thought I’d explain the issue with the tourniquet.
Upon rereading the original article on the incident, it occurred to me that this could be one of the few cases where a tourniquet *might* be justified.
Most people think that getting shot in the leg is probably not life threatening. But if the femoral artery is hit, the victim can bleed out very fast.
Still, I’d try direct pressure and elevation and then use a pressure point before attempting a tourniquet. There is a pressure point at the groin where the femoral can be blocked by using pressure from the heel of the hand.
This is also what we teach in CERT (I’m an instructor for our local CERT). Here’s a link to the participant’s manual that has the section on controlling bleeding (from CERT Unit 3 – Disaster Medical Operations Part 1).
That section of the CERT manual doesn’t mention tourniquet at all, which is a fault that should be corrected. Many people were taught that tourniquet was the proper first aid for severe arterial bleeding — and my very limited understanding is that it still is, in some circumstances. The manual, as well, does not usefully describe using a band and object to produce pressure on a pressure point.
Disaster, too, is different than attack. It may be prudent to use a tourniquet if it is possible that the attack may resume, resulting in either further wounds to the victim or the provider having to abandon victim care.
Of course disaster is different from attack, and have different needs. Conversely, if you’re in a large-scale disaster, with a long-term wait for professional first-responders / medical care, then you should be even more wary of a tourniquet.
Anyhow, I was using the CERT manual as an illustration of the preferred methods for controlling bleeding. Tourniquets are not included in the participant manual and are left to the local agency to decide to include (or not).
Great post here, and great comments, Aubrey.
Bitter, you raise some excellent points about Colin not being on the clock at the time of the incident, as well as their alternatives to straight out termination.
Aubrey, with my wife working at the main hospital here in Boise, she also agrees that direct pressure is the preferred approach, and a tourniquet should be a last resort. But — as you pointed out — Colin had no idea what else might happen. It would have been difficult to maintain direct pressure if the shooter appeared and Colin ended up dodging bullets.
I was fortunate enough to interview Colin twice, and I also spoke with the victim, Tonnetta Lee. Overviews of my conversations with Colin can be found on my Workplace Excellence blog.
Suffice it to say, though, that Bitter is right on the money in the above post.
Aubrey,
currrent US Armed Forces Medical doctrine uses the tourniquet quite liberally now to the point it is now issued to all medics, corpsmen, and any emergency aid worker. There are discussions to make them general issue to front line troops after the training protocol is adopted. First hand experience in Afghanistan and Iraq have shown that even with minor wounds and the speed of evac the tourniguet saves more lives than the possible damage to the circulatory system and tissue damage of years past.
Grey
U.S. Army 85-89 Medic (91A)
EMT-D Missouri 94-98
VFD Missouri 94-98
It sounds like the training includes *proper* use of the tourniquet, which makes a big difference.
In general, outside the military, though, they’re discouraged because most people don’t have the needed training. There are whole lot of ways to do them wrong, which is why current (non-military/civilian) training deemphasizes them.
When you don’t have any real training, and that is the vast majority of us, the alternative to using a tourniquet is watching someone bleed out.
Aubrey,
The new torniquet’s based on the original Israeli design, have very good instructions which make them very self explanatory, printed directly on the wrapper of the torniquet. The new tourniquets are designed to be used one handed for extreme situations, such as the one Mr. Bruley was in. He did what he could with what he had, lets leave it at that and quit second guessing the man who was on the scene. We don’t know what was going on in his head nor do we know of the tactical situation he faced. He did a good job with his limited knowledge and if his former employers hadn’t tried to deflect any criticisms of themselves, this issue never would have been brought up.
Grey
Grey,
I’m not second guessing his actions, but I sense that people think I am. I was simply pointing out a possible reason for the comment that Bitter highlighted. But since then I saw another article that mentioned that he had medical training and worked in EMS. So my original point doesn’t really apply anymore, at least with regards to him.
GeorgeH,
That would seem to argue for more training, rather than trying to use a potentially dangerous technique without training.
Aubrey,
I agree. As I said it is the actions of his former employers which even brought this issue to light. Their handling of this situation despite being rupugnant is churlish and childish as well. I would hope that Mr. Bruley is able to obtain the services of a good Civil Rights Attorney with a specialty in Firearms and Constitutional Law. And that he is offered gainful employment at a business that will appreciate his foresight and willingness to serve his fellow citizens.
Grey