DC Fire and EMS

2 DC Firefighters Accused of Getting Fast Food on Way to Emergency: Sources

The firefighters are under internal investigation after being accused of picking up food before responding to an emergency call

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Two D.C. firefighters are accused of putting an emergency call on hold so they could pick up a bite to eat at Chick-fil-A.

Sources familiar with the investigation say on the afternoon of March 24, a 911 caller reported a woman suffering from chest pain at an office in Northeast.

“Ambulance 3 and Medic 3 respond for ALS (advanced life support) chest pain for a 57-year-old female at Kaiser Permanente,” a 911 center dispatcher said just after 4 p.m.

ALS is considered a priority call. But, according to an account in a D.C. Fire and EMS report, the two firefighters assigned to Ambulance 3 said it had been a busy day and they were hungry and fatigued and wanted to stop for food.

They went to a Chick-fil-A at 14th Street and Maryland Avenue NE, about a mile away from where they were supposed to be.

The firefighters said they had already ordered their food on an app when the emergency call came in, so they decided to stop for "literally a few minutes tops," according to a D.C. Fire and EMS special report obtained by News4. The report written by one of the firefighters says "there was no delay in patient care or response."

However, sources familiar with the investigation say the reason Ambulance 3 was assigned to the call is because it was closer than Medic 3. In the special report, the firefighters claimed they arrived at the same time as Medic 3.

In a statement, D.C. Fire and EMS said in part, "Our response monitoring system captured an anomaly in the response of Ambulance 3. This has led to an investigation and both crew members of Ambulance 3 have been placed in [a] no patient contact status."

A spokesman for D.C. Fire and EMS said the special report obtained by News4 is just one of several included in the investigation.

Regarding the woman who suffered the chest pains, D.C. Fire and EMS only said she was transported to a hospital.

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