ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Local 6 has learned cameras and microphones are now going inside ambulances for Orange County Fire Rescue.
The move comes after Edric Casiano, a paramedic for the department, was accused of sexually battering a female patient inside one of the ambulances last fall.
The charges were dropped Monday, but Chief Otto Drozd said the case exposed a problem that needed to be fixed.
"We wanted to take those steps that were appropriate to ensure the confidence of the public as well as their safety," Drozd said.
A camera will eventually be in the back of each of the department's 40 rescue vehicles where the patient sits, but because of privacy concerns and HIPPA laws the video from the cameras won't be recorded.
Instead, the video will be seen in real time and the driver and whoever else is up front can see and hear what's happening on a monitor.
"It gives the ability of the driver to be another set of eyes for what's happening," said Drozd.
The cameras will be installed at the 15 busiest stations first at a cost of almost $14,000. The chief said its money that came out of the department's budget.
So far only one camera has been installed, but the plan is to have most of the cameras put in by the end of the year.
The department said Casiano is working in an administrative capacity until the internal investigation is finished.