We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
Nine years after David Rosenbaum died following a botched emergency response, a new report from the D.C. Auditor says that the D.C. Fire and EMS department has followed through on less than half of the recommendations that emerged after his death.
DCFEMS has implemented or partially implemented 17 of the 36 recommendations made in the 2007 task force’s report on Rosenbaum’s death, while 19 of them were either never implemented or rescinded later. The never-implemented recommendations include hiring exclusively “dual-role” personnel who could be both EMTs and firefighters, as well as training DCFEMS staff who were hired before the report in both roles.
The report offers a grim take on the state of DCFEMS more than a year after Medric Mills died after collapsing near a firehouse after DCFEMS personnel ignored requests to help him. And the department’s state comes at a bad time for the District as a whole, the reports notes.
“The District has seen a significant increase in it population along with a decrease in the number of DCFEMS staff to serve them,” the audit reads.
In a statement, DCFEMS Chief Gregory M. Dean said he’s “hard at work” on implementing the task force recommendations.
Photo by Darrow Montgomery