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
On August 19, "The Washingtonian" magazine reported on its Web site that Chief Ellerbe had an alleged confrontation with a firefighter over a picture taken of the burning Medic 27 vehicle. According to the report, Ellerbe arrived at the scene of the ambulance fire and noticed a firefighter with a smartphone in his hand. The magazine said that Ellerbe demanded that the firefighter hand over camera phone, grabbed it from the firefighter's hand, looked it over, and returned it. Ellerbe denied the incident categorically, saying he went to the scene of the fire only because "I thought my presence would initiate a faster response in removing the vehicle from public view". He requested the phone, and the firefighter willingly handed it over. Ellerbe says that when he saw the phone was not functioning, he returned it immediately. The magazine did not identify the firefighter who made the accusation. However, Ellerbe requested and received an internal investigation into the accusation. However, a week later, firefighter Sean C. Griffith, filed a criminal complaint with the D.C. police alleging that Rubin assaulted him, causing him harm that required him to seek medical treatment and spend more than a week on sick leave. A spokesman for Deputy Mayor Paul Quander called the allegation suspect and accused the firefighters' union of fabricating the incident to embarrass the department.