Sources Also Say 4 Being Disciplined
By Valerie Strauss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 18, 2006
The D.C. fire chief has fired an emergency medical technician involved in the botched response to a deadly assault on a veteran journalist and has disciplined two supervisors who allowed that technician to keep working, government sources said yesterday.
Disciplinary action also has been taken against two police officers called to the scene after the January assault on New York Times journalist David E. Rosenbaum in Northwest Washington, according to a government official.
The government sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was considered confidential.
The case has generated extensive public and official concern because of repeated mistakes by emergency personnel who were summoned Jan. 6 by residents who found Rosenbaum, 63, lying in front of their home on Gramercy Street. He had been struck in the head with a pipe and mugged.
The office of D.C. Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby issued a report Friday criticizing the response by employees of the D.C. police department, the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services and Howard University Hospital for failing to respond appropriately to Rosenbaum's attack.
The report detailed failures by emergency personnel, including emergency technicians mistakenly thinking Rosenbaum was intoxicated and classifying him as "a low priority." They got lost on the way to the scene and took him to a hospital that was not the closest to the scene. After he arrived at Howard University Hospital, the report said, Rosenbaum lay on a gurney in a hallway for more than an hour before his severe head wound was discovered.
The report made no comment about whether a more efficient response would have saved Rosenbaum.
According to a government source, Fire Chief Adrian H. Thompson fired EMT Selena Walker late Friday over her conduct in the case. According to the source, Walker was driving the ambulance that went to Howard University Hospital rather than Sibley Memorial Hospital, which was closer.
Walker could not be reached by phone for comments. .
Vince Morris, spokesman for Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), confirmed Thompson had fired an emergency medical technician. That information was first reported by the Washington Times yesterday.
"We've also been told that the department is continuing to review this incident in light of the [inspector general's] report and that other action may follow," Morris said. "The mayor said he will not tolerate poor performers."
One government source said Thompson also took action against two of Walker's supervisors who had failed to take disciplinary action against her and allowed her to stay on the job. One supervisor was suspended and another demoted, according to the source, and more action against emergency response officials is being considered.
One government official said that "corrective action," which amounted to less than a suspension, had been taken against two police officers but that further action could be taken. The inspector general's report said police officers, not realizing that a mugging had occurred, failed to secure the scene, identify the victim or quickly begin an investigation.
Rosenbaum's brother, Marcus, said authorities had not told him any action had been taken against any city employees in the case.
Willoughby's report concluded by saying the case suggested endemic problems with the delivery of basic emergency medical services citywide.
"Such failures mandate immediate action by management to improve employee accountability," the report said.
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