WASHINGTON (WJLA) – Four months after a one-year-old boy choked on a grape and died in Northwest D.C. , a District Fire and EMS Lieutenant is being charged by the department for neglect and incompetence.
The Lieutenant’s name was redacted from the report but he worked at the fire station in Tenleytown. These are not criminal charges, they are department charges that will be heard by an internal trial board.
Human error and issues with technical training — that is what a recent report said caused a delayed emergency response back on March 13 when a toddler began choking on a grape. According to the report, 911 was called at 8:36. An ambulance didn’t arrive for 11 minutes — even thought Engine Company 20, in Tenleytown, was just three blocks away.
The young boy later died at the hospital. Afterwards, an investigation was launched into what went wrong. It said the delayed response was due to the wrong emergency crews being dispatched — partly because of a software error and partly because a lieutenant, who’s now being charged by the department, did not properly notify dispatchers that his medical unit was closer.
To try to remedy this and other recent problems within the D.C. Fire and EMS, a statement Tuesday by Mayor Muriel Bowser said 44 new firefighter/EMTs will be hired in the coming months. More money has been allocated for new emergency equipment and changes are coming in how the department communicates with 911 dispatch.
In addition to those changes, three hospital liaison officers are now being used to get ambulance crews back on the street more quickly after dropping someone off at the hospital.
