Martin Austermuhle
Photo by Eric P.
Well, this is unnerving: Fox 5 reports that more than 100 D.C. firefighters called in sick on New Year’s Eve, leaving 11 ambulances un-staffed and forcing D.C. Fire & EMS officials to plead for help from Prince George’s County. Fire officials and firefighters differ on who was responsible for the severe staffing shortage, though:
The Firefighter’s union denies it was behind a coordinated sick out and says the trouble New Year’s Eve could have been avoided if the department had staffed up as it did in recent years.
Ed Smith, the head of the union, says the department is choosing cost cutting over public safety.
That’s a claim the chief denies.
Chief Kenneth Ellerbe declined to point any fingers over the large number of firefighters calling out sick but admitted it was highly unusual.
“Today we have 26 people out sick” said Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe, “but it could be members waited because they have an option to use sick leave three times a year without going to the clinic, it’s called our minor illness program, New Year’s Eve, it could be our members wanted to be off or they were sick.”
The shortage had real effects: one stabbing victim had to be transported to the hospital on a fire truck, while a man was said to have died from cardiac arrest after an ambulance took 40 minutes to respond.
Ellerbe and rank-and-file firefighters have been at odds for over a year, fighting over everything from uniforms to shifts and overtime to cartoon mustaches. A recent plan by Ellerbe to limit overnight paramedic staffing raised the ire of firefighters; Ellerbe recently backed off of the idea.
