District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department
In June 2015, Jullette M. Saussy was named the medical director of DC Fire and EMS. On January 29, 2016, she announced her resignation from that position in a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser. In her letter, she called the department's culture "highly toxic to the delivery of any semblance of quality pre-hospital medical care."
History of the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department
By mid-August 2013, the relationship between Ellerbe and his rank-and-file workers had degenerated into what "Washington Post" columnist Mike DeBonis called "civil war". Ellerbe's predecessor, Dennis L. Rubin, accused Ellerbe of "greatly compromis[ing]" the department, imposing "rapid and poorly planned changes", and fabricating information about departmental performance. Rubin's comments, made to the magazine "Fire Engineering", were more widely reported by the "Washington Post". Rubin said he made the statements because Ellerbe repeatedly blamed him for the department's troubles, although D.C. City Council member Phil Mendelson questioned Rubin's veracity.