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 January 25, 2014, 77-year-old Medric "Cecil" Mills, Jr., a lifelong resident of D.C., collapsed after suffering a massive heart attack in the parking lot of a Northeast D.C. shopping center, across the street from a fire station. Her daughter Marie Mills ran to his side to check on him. Bystanders called 911 and ran across the street to the firehouse for help, but rescuers inside ignored their calls. An ambulance that was supposed to be dispatched to the scene was sent to the wrong quadrant of the city, Northwest instead of Northeast D.C. Marie said she believed it took "at least 15 minutes for help to arrive." Medric later died.