I wonder if they were union firefighters

[ScubaGuy]

I have nothing but respect for firefighters, volunteer, professional, union or non-union but I always got pissed when the DUmmies used them as a political pro-union pawn whenever something good happened.  "HEY LOOK AT WHAT A GOOD UNION MEMBER DID!".

Then there's this.

Star Member Liberal_in_LA (31,530 posts)

Firefighters Refuse to Help Man, He Dies

Firefighters Refuse to Help Man, He Dies
77-year-old collapsed across street from DC firehouse

(Newser) – Marie Mills' father collapsed Saturday afternoon in a shopping center parking lot across the street from a Washington, DC, firehouse—but firefighters didn't rush to his aid, despite repeated pleas for help, and Medric "Cecil" Mills, 77, died of a heart attack. Marie Mills tells WTTG that bystanders were "screaming and hollering" at a firefighter across the street, and three people even ran over to Engine 26, but they were told rescuers could not respond until 911 was called, the Washington Post reports. Sources say that when 911 was called, an ambulance and engine were dispatched from another location and went to the wrong part of the city; Mills says the only reason an ambulance eventually showed up—15 to 20 minutes later—was because a police officer saw it passing by and flagged it down. Her father, a four-decade city employee, died at the hospital.

"Several people told me the guy behind the door wouldn't open the door. He told them, 'There's nothing I can do if my lieutenant doesn't tell me to go,'" Mills says. It's unclear whether he informed his superiors about what was going on. Authorities are investigating, and 15 firefighters who were on duty that day have been called in for questioning. Officials are responding, with the mayor calling the situation "hard to accept." One expert says that while emergency workers can't "self-dispatch" and respond to calls on their own, if they see trouble, they "have a duty to go over and investigate." Adds the deputy mayor for public safety, "They don't wait to be called."

http://www.newser.com/story/181519/firefighters-refuse-to-help-man-he-dies.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=united&utm_campaign=rss_topnews

[thundley4]

Affirmation Action in Action?

A D.C. fire lieutenant on Thursday was removed from a firehouse in Northeast Washington and put on desk duty as authorities investigate why a man who suffered a fatal heart attack outside the station didn’t get care, according to officials familiar with the case.

The move comes one day after the 28-year veteran lieutenant met with the fire department’s internal affairs division. She was captured on television on Wednesday emerging from the interview and climbing back into Truck 15 shielding her face with a manila office folder.

[DLR Pyro]

I wonder if this was a case of union stupidity, or are the firefighters tied down with regulations that prevent them from freelance rescues without a call to 911 or a direct order from a superior.  I can see some dumbass city council doing the latter because they are worried about liability and malpractice suits against the department.

either way it is a sad story.

[GOBUCKS]

I wonder if this was a case of union stupidity, or are the firefighters tied down with regulations that prevent them from freelance rescues without a call to 911 or a direct order from a superior.  I can see some dumbass city council doing the latter because they are worried about liability and malpractice suits against the department.

This is the District of Columbia.

Every nook and cranny of the city's operation is filled to overflowing with stupidity and corruption.

They reelected Marion Barry after his crack conviction because he's the best they've got.