D.C. Fire Chief Has Doubts About Probe
Internal Inquiry Into Treatment of Slain Reporter 'Like Pulling Teeth'

By Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 11, 2006

D.C. Fire Chief Adrian H. Thompson said yesterday that he is frustrated by the results of his department's investigation into how emergency medical workers treated a longtime journalist who was fatally beaten during a robbery two months ago.

Weeks after publicly saying that emergency workers "met all standards of care" in their response to the Jan. 6 incident, Thompson said yesterday that he no longer has enough information to make such a judgment.

"It has been like pulling teeth," Thompson said, describing the internal investigation into how workers cared for David E. Rosenbaum, 63, a New York Times reporter.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions," Thompson said. "I want to make sure we are doing proper care and patient assessments. If there was something done wrong, I want to get to the bottom of it."

Thompson issued a news release five days after the incident that stated "our operational review indicates that appropriate measures were taken" and that "everything possible was done to attend" to Rosenbaum.

The statement came as fire officials were being criticized by community leaders after revelations that emergency workers thought Rosenbaum was drunk, not the victim of an assault suffering from a severe head injury. It took more than 20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

Thompson said he is looking forward to the results of a D.C. inspector general investigation, which was launched two weeks after the attack. A report should be released in coming months, officials have said.

Rosenbaum's brother, Marcus, said yesterday that he, too, welcomed the inspector general's investigation.

"I can only say that I agree with Chief Thompson that I hope they get to the bottom of this," Marcus Rosenbaum said. "Clearly, everybody didn't do the right thing."

Rosenbaum was taking an after-dinner walk near his Northwest Washington home just after 9 p.m. when he was beaten with a metal pipe and robbed of his wallet in the 3800 block of Gramercy Street NW, police said. He died two days later, and two men have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in his death. They are being held pending trial.

Firefighters on a fire engine, who double as emergency medical workers, arrived within five minutes of being dispatched in response to a report of a man in medical distress. Rosenbaum was found on the sidewalk, disoriented, and firefighters smelled alcohol on his breath, officials said.

An ambulance crew arrived 18 minutes later and also treated Rosenbaum as if he were a drunk case, records show.

They took him to Howard University Hospital, where he was left on a gurney near the emergency room for more than an hour. A doctor then evaluated Rosenbaum and realized he had a severe head injury and rushed him into surgery. It is not clear whether more prompt medical care could have saved Rosenbaum.

In a letter to D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), city officials said that emergency workers noticed "no externally visible gross signs of significant trauma" to Rosenbaum, despite at least four assessments by emergency workers. Police found only a small amount of blood on the sidewalk, authorities said.

The ambulance crew could have taken Rosenbaum to Sibley Memorial Hospital, which is much closer to Grammercy Street than Howard University Hospital. Fire officials said yesterday that they have been unable to learn why the ambulance crew took him to Howard.

In the end, the decision to take Rosenbuam to Howard probably didn't affect the reporter's care much, authorities have said.

Sibley does not have a trauma center capable of performing the surgery Rosenbaum needed. Another ambulance would have been required to take him from Sibley to another hospital. Such a transfer would have taken a substantial amount of time.

Fire officials did not identify the firefighters or ambulance crew members involved in the incident. But they said the employees have received "remedial" training in how to assess and treat patients and are back on the street.

In the days after Rosenbaum's death, fire officials said they revamped how they respond to such calls and how they deploy ambulances and crews to short-staffed areas of the city.

Thompson said yesterday that firefighters on engines and trucks soon will be required to fill out "run sheets" that describe the medical care they give. Only emergency medical workers and paramedics on ambulances are now required to fill out those forms. Thompson said the forms would help authorities better document what occurs during emergencies. Fire engines and trucks are dispatched on many medical calls in the city.