Paramedic Daniel McIntosh died in the line of duty in Bensalem, PA. 

On Sunday night, the squad’s ambulance crew had rushed to the 2600 block of Knights Road for a report of a suicidal man. When they arrived, the man ran away and McIntosh chased after him, hoping to save the man from hurting himself. Instead McIntosh suffered a fatal heart attack. Members of the ambulance squad then turned their attention to saving the life of their own crew member with no luck.

I suppose the suicidal man is not to blame for McIntosh’s death. It might be obvious that McIntosh had something wrong with his heart, since he had a massive coronary, and his photo shows him to be overweight, so maybe he would have had a heart attack in any case, if not that night, the next time he exerted himself or the time after that. Maybe not. I’m no expert on heart attacks. This seems to be just a very sad case of someone dying while doing his job and trying to help people. McIntosh “was married and had two daughters, ages 1 and 5,” according to the Bucks County Courier Times. It’s a sad story.

The suicidal man, Edwin Agosto, 21, reportedly had a fight with his fiancee, the mother of his two children, and was upset and had popped a bunch of pills. His mother called 911 when he refused to go to the hospital. “According to police, the rescue squad arrived in the area and paramedics saw a male nearby. They asked the man if he called 911. The man, who police said has a history of mental illness, took off and McIntosh took off to try to help him.” There was apparently no altercation or physical contact. McIntosh just dropped. I’m not blaming Agosto for the paramedic’s death, though he has a guilty conscience. He said:

I really want to get this off my conscience because it’s hurting me that I hurt a family because I have a family of my own. I feel sorry because I could’ve avoided it. I was really messed up. I wasn’t feeling right because I took all them penicillins, which was a stupid idea, and I regret it for the rest of my life.

This all happened Sunday night. What the online articles don’t say, but the print edition of the paper does, in a separate tiny article on page B4, is “the man whose life paramedic Daniel McIntosh was trying to save Sunday night when McIntosh died of a heart attack attempted suicide again Wednesday” (yesterday). And the Bensalem Rescue Squad — distraught over the loss of their friend, the first paramedic to die in the line of duty in their entire history — had to go to Agosto’s home again, back to the scene of McIntosh’s death, only three days later. This time Agosto “was seen leaving his house with blood on his clothing and paramedics by his side.” Maybe the motive for this latest suicide attempt is the guilt he feels for his role in McIntosh’s death.

I don’t think he learned much of a lesson from Sunday night, or that his actions can be blamed on taking all them penicillins this time. I’m also not sure how serious this guy is about committing suicide. Two attempts in one week, one paramedic dead, yet Agosto is still alive. If this guy is a danger to others, he should be locked up. If he is truly a danger to himself only, either leave him alone to do what he is going to do or get him on some meds if that’s what he needs. How many times does the rescue squad have to keep going back to this house?

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