DC Fire Lieutenant on Leave After Dying Man Ignored

As is another firefighters, as authorities investigate death of Medric Mills
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 31, 2014 9:16 AM CST
DC Fire Lieutenant on Leave After Dying Man Ignored
Stock image   (Shutterstock)

A fire lieutenant and a firefighter are on administrative leave after a man suffered a heart attack across the street from their Washington, DC, firehouse on Saturday and no one at the station helped him; Medric Mills, 77, later died. Authorities are still investigating the situation, but the lieutenant wrote in a letter to DC's fire chief that a firefighter told her someone slipped and fell across the street, WTTG reports. She told him to get an address and she'd go to assist, but, she says, he never brought her an address; instead, she later found him and says he told her an ambulance had been dispatched. Both are currently on desk duty.

As for the probationary firefighter who told bystanders asking for help that they had to call 911 before rescuers could respond, he was reprimanded for not ringing the station alarm, but officials say he followed procedure by telling the lieutenant about the situation, the Washington Post reports. It's not yet clear why no assistance was then given, but the probationary firefighter was not placed on leave; he was transferred to another station. "We know we had a very new probationary employee at the facility and the first response is to ask a senior person, and we believe that was done," the deputy mayor for public safety tells WTTG. "The question now is what did that senior person say? What did that person do? Did they follow protocols and procedures?" (More Washington, DC stories.)

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