Engine goes to wrong location. Patient dies.
A District of Columbia fire engine crew went to the wrong location on Wednesday causing a dying man to wait more than 11 minutes for the arrival of a first responder to a 911 call for help. Chief Dennis Rubin calls the mistake by the firefighters assigned to Engine 6 an “operational error”.
According to a press release issued by the department Thursday evening, Engine 6 was sent at 1:07 PM to 10 G Street, NE for a man suffering a possible seizure. For some reason the firefighters responded instead to 10 G Place, NE. That location is a block away from where they were supposed to be.
The release says Engine 6 reported finding no patient. After a radio discussion with the Office of Unified Communication (911 Center), Engine 6 went in-service at 1:14 PM. Medic 1, responding from a different location was canceled.
When the person who originally called 911 called again to say the victim wasn’t breathing, the call for G Street was re-dispatched to Engine 6 and Medic 1. At the same time pre-arrival CPR instructions were given to the caller.
The press release indicates when Engine 6’s crew returned to G Place they realized their mistake. They then went to the correct location a block away. Arriving at 1:19 PM, the firefighters discovered the man was in cardiac arrest. Resuscitation efforts were started and the crew from Medic 1 arrived two minutes later to assist.
The man was pronounced dead at Howard University Hospital.
Chief Rubin said in a statement the “operational error” by the crew from Engine 6 “was the primary cause of the delay in locating the patient”. A review is underway that could lead to “appropriate remedial and/or disciplinary action”.
According to sources familiar with the incident, after treating the patient, the officer and driver of Engine 6 contacted supervisors to own up to the mistake.
