D.C. comes up with money for local emergency training after public outcry

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The District of Columbia bowed to public pressure Tuesday and agreed to pay for crucial training of emergency medical technicians.

The D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department last week suspended its recertification program for its medics because the agency didn’t have enough money to pay for it. But by Tuesday, the Deputy Mayor’s Office of Public Safety found $175,000 to pay for the training.

The suspension came less than two months after a report critical of the agency’s response in the death of a New York Times journalist recommended that first responders remain up-to-date in their training.

“This has absolutely no impact on patient services or what we’re doing,” D.C. Fire spokesman Alan Etter said.

Before the the classes were restarted, firefighter union chief Kenneth Lyons criticized Fire Chief Adrian Thompson for making emergency medical services a low priority, especially against the backdrop of the D.C. inspector general’s report on the fatal mugging of veteran journalist David Rosenbaum.

The report said the emergency crew didn’t understand basic patient care procedures and failed to assess and treat Rosenbaum correctly.

“The I.G. report was a warning and the agency has chosen to ignore their warnings,” Lyons said. “Training, oversight and compliance, we have none of that. The safety-net is gone.”

Emergency teams mistakenly thought Rosenbaum, 63, was drunk when they found him near his Gramercy Street home on Jan. 6.

He died two days later.

The lead firefighter who first responded to the scene never received EMT training as required, did not have first aid training, and his CPR certification expired two years ago, the report found.

About 157 medics are scheduled for training and EMT recertification in the next month.

Unexpected expenditures led to the decision to hold off on the recertifications, Etter said. The department had to shell out $350,000 for accidentally canceled health care benefits, the federal government did not reimburse the department as much as it had in the past and overtime costs were greater than expected because of a high absentee rate.

smccabe@dcexaminer.com