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
The logo change caused another controversy in April 2012. The department ordered 1,750 fire-resistive polo shirts at a cost of $70,000 shortly before Ellerbe took office. On April 12, 2012, DCFEMS issued an order to all personnel stating that the shirts would be given to staff even though it bore the old logo. Less than 30 minutes later, this order was rescinded. D.C. City Council members then inquired about how the department was going to use the stored shirts. DCFEMS assistant chiefs said the order was issued in error, and department leaders promised to issue an order concerning the shirts at some point in the future. Compounding the problem, former Fire Chief Rubin claimed that two DCFEMS firefighters were severely burned and two moderately burned in 2012 because the shirts which Ellerbe continued to use were not fire-resistive. Rubin's claims were later more widely reported by national news media. Ellerbe attributed the purchase of the shirt to "trickery" by Rubin, designed to set Ellerbe up for failure.