Paramedic resigned after Chapel Hill player died

Chapel Hill, N.C. — An Orange County paramedic resigned last August, two weeks after treating a Chapel Hill High School football player who later died.

Atlas Fraley, 17, was a senior offensive guard and defensive tackle for Chapel Hill High who participated in an Aug. 12 scrimmage at Middle Creek High in Apex. His parents found him unresponsive in their home that evening.

Medical examiners were unable to find a definite cause of death, but they said Fraley had a history of cramping and similar symptoms, which could have combined with dehydration to result in a "fatal cardiac event or even an acute asthmatic attack," according to an autopsy report released Wednesday.

Fraley called 911 from his house shortly before 2 p.m. Aug. 12, complaining of muscle cramps and dehydration and asking paramedics to provide him with intravenous fluids.

Paramedic James Griffin went to Fraley's house and found the teen's pulse and blood pressure to be normal, according to an Orange County Emergency Services patient report released Friday by the Fraley family's attorney.

Griffin wrote in the report that Fraley wouldn't sit still for a heart monitor reading, so he advised him to keep drinking fluids. He noted several empty water bottles on a counter and wrote that Fraley said he had plenty of water and Gatorade on hand.

Griffin wrote that he tried to call Fraley's parents and, when he couldn't reach them, allowed Fraley to sign a discharge form.

It wasn't stated on the form if Fraley refused to be taken to a hospital.

Griffin resigned from Orange County Emergency Services on Aug. 27. He had worked with the agency for almost nine years.

Orange County Emergency Services officials cited personnel and medical privacy regulations Wednesday in declining to release details of their internal investigation of the case.