The Firefighters' Dodge
Those who failed David Rosenbaum should be held accountable.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

THE EMERGENCY treatment that

David E. Rosenbaum received as he lay mortally wounded on a city sidewalk was inadequate and indifferent. The awful truths of that January night in 2006 are mourned by his family and acknowledged by top D.C. officials. Regrettably, though, they don't seem to matter in the effort to hold accountable those involved in this now-infamous case.

The union representing the city's firefighters is challenging the punishment that Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin seeks to impose on two firefighters. Frelimo Simba and Michael Roy were among the first to assist the retired newspaper reporter. A department trial board found that they failed to recognize obvious signs of possible trauma. Mr. Simba also was found guilty of obstructing an investigation of the incident. Saying the sanctions the board recommended were too lenient, Chief Rubin, backed by D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), moved to dismiss Mr. Simba and impose a lengthier suspension on Mr. Roy.

Local 36 of the International Association of Fire Fighters might well be right that its collective bargaining agreement with the city precludes Mr. Rubin from stiffening the punishment. But it's one thing to say that process has been violated, and another to say -- as the union did -- that those caring for Mr. Rosenbaum "discharged their duties properly." No matter that the trial board found otherwise, or that, as an inspector general's report makes clear, once rescue workers attributed Mr. Rosenbaum's condition (wrongly) to alcohol, they considered no other possibilities. The kind of head injury Mr. Rosenbaum sustained is hard to diagnose in the field. But even the neighbors who discovered him didn't think he was drunk.

The lenient sanctions the trial board recommended, and the board's exculpation of other troubling actions that night, raise questions about the department's ability to police itself. Certainly there are flaws in a process that takes 15 months and that depends on a board stacked evenly between union and management members. Chief Rubin may be going out on a limb by taking on the union. But he's right to send the message that he's serious about changing the culture of complacency that resulted in such poor treatment of a human being. It would be nice if he were joined by those who should care the most about how members of their profession perform.