The duo has been accused of violating protocol because they didn’t wait for an ambulance to arrive.
Two Virginia firefighters were suspended for driving a sick child to the hospital in their fire engine instead of waiting for an ambulance.
Fox 5 DC / Via fox5dc.com
The father pulled over near a McDonald's and called 911.
He said he was impressed by how quickly the firefighters from the Falmouth Volunteer Fire Department arrived.
"The eternity of waiting for help to arrive was surprisingly non-existent in this situation," Nunamaker told Fox 5 DC. "I was surprised at how quickly help had arrived in the form of a fire truck."
Captain James Kelley told The Free Lance-Star he was one of the firefighters to arrived. He told the newspaper the child was blue from her head to her chest, and he realized she needed to go to the hospital as soon as possible.
Fox 5 DC / Via fox5dc.com
"I immediately told the driver to turn on the engine," Kelley told the newspaper. "This child was in dire need of a hospital."
Kelley and fellow firefighter Sgt. Virgil Bloom said that they believed medical units wouldn't arrive for another 10 to 15 minutes.
The pair decided to take the child to the hospital themselves, because they didn't think they could wait that long for medics to arrive.
"Considering all the factors — the presentation of the child, the unknown location of the medic unit, and the distance to the hospital — I felt it was in the patient's best interest to transport immediately," Kelley said in a statement about the incident, according to The Free Lance-Star.
Once the toddler was in the vehicle, Kelley said an ambulance offered to meet up with him. But, he told the newspaper he declined because they were close to the hospital at that point.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1R1PHIX
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