Posted on 01/30/2014 10:40:58 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
(Newser) – Marie Mills' father collapsed Saturday afternoon in a shopping center parking lot across the street from a Washington, DC, firehouse—but firefighters didn't rush to his aid, despite repeated pleas for help, and Medric "Cecil" Mills, 77, died of a heart attack. Marie Mills tells WTTG that bystanders were "screaming and hollering" at a firefighter across the street, and three people even ran over to Engine 26, but they were told rescuers could not respond until 911 was called, the Washington Post reports. Sources say that when 911 was called, an ambulance and engine were dispatched from another location and went to the wrong part of the city; Mills says the only reason an ambulance eventually showed up—15 to 20 minutes later—was because a police officer saw it passing by and flagged it down. Her father, a four-decade city employee, died at the hospital.
"Several people told me the guy behind the door wouldn't open the door. He told them, 'There's nothing I can do if my lieutenant doesn't tell me to go,'" Mills says. It's unclear whether he informed his superiors about what was going on. Authorities are investigating, and 15 firefighters who were on duty that day have been called in for questioning. Officials are responding, with the mayor calling the situation "hard to accept." One expert says that while emergency workers can't "self-dispatch" and respond to calls on their own, if they see trouble, they "have a duty to go over and investigate." Adds the deputy mayor for public safety, "They don't wait to be called."
I still haven’t cooled down from Jan 20, 2009...
“It’s true, I don’t want to help till they call 911, as the village’s insurance will not cover me until that happens. I am an EMT here, in my village.”
Why don’t you call 911 then?
I try to limit how many threads make me blow my stack.
You help someone today and you can get sued.
The District’s fire department and its chief, Kenneth B. Ellerbe, more recently have faced scrutiny after problems that raised questions about patient care. On New Year’s Day 2013, a 71-year-old man died of a heart attack after waiting more than 30 minutes for an ambulance on a day when one-third of the firefighters on duty had called in sick. In March, a D.C. police officer who was struck by a car waited 15 minutes for an ambulance; authorities later found that three ambulances were improperly out of service.
Kenny Lyons, who represents paramedics in a separate labor union, said that emergency workers are barred from “self-dispatching” — such as responding to calls on their own— but that nothing stops them from rendering help or investigating a request from a citizen.
“If you see an incident occurring in front of you, you have a duty to go over an investigate,” Lyons said. “What bothers me in this case is it appears they didn’t even go and check.”
Marie Mills said that she and her father were at a shopping center on Rhode Island Avenue NE and had just dropped off a broken computer at a repair shop. They were walking out, chatting and joking about her returning to college, and he told her, “You get them, college girl.” Just then he stopped talking and tumbled to the pavement.
Ummm...seems that they DO wait to be calld.
To the deputy mayor...yes they do!!!
I’d want to know more details. I always thought the firemen were the ones you could rely on to come help, when you couldn’t rely on the police.
You probably don’t know him near as well as you think you do.
And you both claim to know Jesus Christ, AND you don’t want to help until certain bureaucratic hoops are jumped through. Ick, that just makes me sick.
I fear having my elderly neighbors over for just that reason. One slip and fall and I am done. Sad to say I feel that they would do it without remorse.
“They don’t wait to be called.”
Apparently they do.
Certainly exhibited willful and wanton conduct . . .course of action which [shows actual or deliberate intention to harm] [or which, if not intentional,] [shows an utter indifference to or conscious disregard for (a person’s own safety) (and) (the safety of others)].
I know some Vol and paid FF/EMTs. If they see a incident their is nothing stopping them from calling the dispatcher on the radio, and getting the needed resources rolling. I this case, get the truck across the street and provide basic first aid until a ambulance arrives.
You’re telling me that there’s no “Good Samaritan Law” protection for anyone where you live?
I find that a bit difficult to believe.
Government employees will do just as well with our healthcare.
They can call dispatch on the radio and make it a official call in a few seconds. I know they have a term for calls not called into 911 by some passerby, but can’t think of it now.
We have an older, female neighbor who was at our place while we were moving a heavy item and she insisted on helping.
Several months later my wife realized we hadn't heard from her in many weeks. When my wife asked whether something was wrong, she answered, "You know what you did!".
This same woman once admitted that she sometimes couldn't tell the difference between what was real and what she had dreamed. We could only shake our heads in confirmation.
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