HIV and Hep C Infected Man Charged With Spitting On First Responders

Man was being treated for injuries from a fire when we began flinging his head, getting blood and saliva on the EMS workers treating him

By Jarrel Wade
The Tulsa World

TULSA, Okla. — A man was charged Tuesday with four counts of exposing others to HIV, with prosecutors alleging that the man slung blood and spit on emergency crews trying to give him medical treatment May 22.

Daniel Paul Hedge, 46, was being treated for injuries from a fire when he became combative, police said. He began flinging his head and spitting on three EMSA workers and a Tulsa firefighter, getting blood and saliva on them, according to an arrest report.

He told emergency personnel he is HIV positive and also has hepatitis C, according to the report. Following standard procedure, one EMSA employee was tested for the virus and disease, and Hedge was also tested, said Jason Whitlow, field operations supervisor for EMSA.

It can take up to six months before an infection can be detected by the tests, EMSA spokesman Chris Stevens said Whitlow said Hedge became belligerent quickly, before workers were able to put on all their protective gear. "Unfortunately, these things happen in our line of work," Whitlow said. "But we do take lots of precautions."

Stevens said EMSA medics "are prepared for anything." Usually people with infectious diseases are more careful about the possibility of spreading the disease than they need to be, and they usually indicate to emergency workers the need for extra precautions, he said.

The likelihood of medics catching something from the man's saliva and blood is very low as long as they didn't have any open cuts, Stevens said. Hedge has been in prison for shooting with intent to kill, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and possession of contraband in a penal institution, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.