Editor's Note: The date of the incident in this article has been corrected.
An infant in cardiac arrest was taken to a hospital in a fire truck Monday because the nearest ambulance was 12 minutes away, multiple D.C. Fire and EMS sources say.
As News4 is first to report, a call was received at 5:25 p.m. Monday about a one-month-old baby having a medical emergency on the 5000 block of Hunt Street NE, a D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman said.
A fire truck arrived on the scene four minutes later. Another fire truck and an EMS supervisor arrived three minutes later and first-responders decided to rush the infant to the hospital themselves. The ambulance arrived another five minutes later -- 12 minutes after the 911 call.
Fire Chief Gregory Dean said the baby was conscious and breathing upon arrival at a hospital 22 minutes after dispatch. There's no indication the time of the ambulance's arrival had any impact on the baby's condition.
The infant's father said Wednesday he was upset an ambulance took so long to arrive. The baby was home and OK, he said.
A neighbor with a two-week-old baby said he found the delay troubling.
"I find it a problem. This is a life that they're responsible for once it's an emergency," Dujuan Graham said.
Fire department spokesman Tim Wilson said only 39 ambulances were on D.C. streets Monday. Six months ago, the mayor promised 49 ambulances on duty during peak times. Units need to be serviced so they don't break down, Wilson said.
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"That's an issue that, as the city administrator indicated, that we're going to work through," he said.
The head of the D.C. firefighters union and city officials previously said that 911 abuse -- people calling for an ambulance when one isn't needed -- contributes to a shortage of available ambulances.
A 5-month-old boy died Friday after he stopped breathing and was initially treated by paramedics when the nearest ambulance was seven miles away, as News4 reported. There was no indication the transportation of the infant was a factor in his death, officials said.
A 1-year-old boy died in Northwest D.C. in March after he choked on a grape and the 911 call center did not send the closest available first-responders. A D.C. fire lieutenant was charged by the fire department with neglect of duty, but the firefighters union believes the blame lies solely with a computer software glitch.
Stay with News4 and NBCWashington.com for the latest on this developing story.
