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
In November 2012, Chief Ellerbe proposed a plan to reduce ambulance service between 1:00 A.M. and 7:00 A.M. and transfer these crews to service between the hours of 7:00 A.M. and noon. Ellerbe said the change would eliminate half of the 42 overnight paramedics and all 14 advanced life support ambulances. The remaining 21 paramedics would ride with fire engines or trucks (which typically respond to medical emergencies also). There would be no change to the 21 to 25 basic life support ambulances available, which are staffed by EMTs. Ellerbe said the city receives about 10 calls per hour overnight, but 20 per hour mornings. The proposal required D.C. City Council approval. The firefighters' union opposed the plan, arguing it would overload firefighters and reduced fire fighting ability. But the paramedics' union (Local 3721, American Federation of Government Employees), supported it.
Ellerbe's plan was not well received by the D.C. City Council or local citizens' groups. At an initial hearing in November 2012, the firefighters' union testified that paramedic vacancies led to staffing downgrades for the 14 overnight advanced life support ambulances, leaving them staffed with EMTs. An average of 4.4 advanced life support ambulances had been downgraded every night in the past year, the union said. Ellerbe dispute those numbers, but provided none on downgrades, saying that the real issue was call volume and not staffing. The D.C. Federation of Citizens Associations, a coalition of neighborhood citizens' groups, testified that similar redeployment plans were tested three times in the late 1980s and did not work. At a second hearing in December 2012, city council public safety committee chair Mendelson expressed frustration with plan, noting that DCFEMS has been unable to say how many paramedics it has on staff. (Ellerbe blamed a software problem for that.) Mendelson also said Ellerbe's plan also didn't seem to take into account scheduled leave, illness, or unforeseen problems.