FF calls 911, threatens lawmakers

[Future Fireman 4]

California Firefighter Calls 9-1-1, Threatens to Shoot Lawmakers

DAVID SIDERS

The Record (Stockton, California)

STOCKTON -- The Stockton Fire Department on Thursday was investigating a 911 call in which a firefighter requested an ambulance for his father and became so upset with the dispatcher -- an employee of fire rival American Medical Response -- he suggested he ought to shoot members of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors, county officials said.

"I oughta go shoot the ... supervisors for hiring you dumb ...," the firefighter said in a recording of the Oct. 17 call.

The call, from a home in unincorporated San Joaquin County, was taken by AMR's dispatch center in Salida. The Fire Department and AMR have been involved in a row since the county last year granted AMR the exclusive right to operate ambulances here, decimating the city's ambulance division. The two sides continue to be involved in a dispatch-related lawsuit.

Fire Chief Ron Hittle said the firefighter has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard during such an investigation. He declined to name him.

The firefighter identified himself on a 911 tape as Tony Silva. A city payroll record lists a firefighter named Anthony F. Silva Jr. The firefighter declined to comment, the Fire Department said.

Hittle said, "I don't condone what he said."

He also said Fire Department dispatchers tell callers if an ambulance is on the way, even if more questions are required of the caller.

In his 911 call to the Salida dispatch center, the firefighter became frustrated by questions the dispatcher asked, and he said, "Just send an ambulance." He later hung up and called the Fire Department himself for help.

County Emergency Medical Services Administrator Dan Burch said the dispatcher the firefighter spoke to followed nationally accepted protocol in her line of questioning. Still, he said the situation could have been helped had she told the firefighter an ambulance was on the way. She dispatched the ambulance during the course of their conversation, he said.

Board Chairman Victor Mow said the comment in the 911 call was surprising, but he said the caller was in a stressful situation.

"Did I feel threatened? No," Mow said. "(But) it's just the nature of our society these days is that these things need to be followed up."

Assistant County Counsel J. Mark Myles said in an Oct. 18 memorandum to the county board that the Sheriff's Office referred the matter to the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. A spokesman for that office by late Thursday could not confirm if an investigation had been opened.

Supervisor Steve Gutierrez said San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore heard the call and believed "there's no real threat."

Gutierrez was most concerned for the firefighter's father.

Hittle said he believed the firefighter's father remained "very sick" Thursday. He suffered chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to Myles' memo to the board.

Yet another black eye

Mike

[x129K 1,393]

He made a statement....not a threat to shoot someone.

[Future Fireman 4]

"I oughta go shoot the ... supervisors for hiring you dumb ...," the firefighter said in a recording of the Oct. 17 call.

Well, it's not my fault that's the title of the article, but the quote I have in this post I believe is a threat. Although it isn't lawmakers. I'll admit though, it is MY fault for posting this article.

Mike

[x129K 1,393]

That wasnt directed at you Bro....it was at the article writers.

[Oswegowind 17]

I don't think you can make such statements, it falls under harassment, no? I don't know at what political level it really counts, but I know you cannot so much as joke about doing that to the President. Of course, the caller was upset, granted he is a professional fire fighter and lost his cool, and that should be taken into consideration. It goes both ways, he should have just asked for the ambulance and if they did not get there within a considerable amount of time he should have reported them to the "supervisors". Sometimes people allow their emotions to act for them, in this case it is obvious that is what happened, however it does not appear that the ambulance dispatcher did anything to retaliate. The tapes, they would be nice to hear, that would aid this discussion. Anyone want to FOIL them?

[LT. 22 1]

I have heard the tape and there is no real big argument between the two. All the Firefighter wanted to hear was that the ambulance was on it's way and the dispatcher failed to tell him this at any point in the tape that I heard, even though one had been sent. The dispatcher just kept asking questions and I know they have rules they have to follow, but just mentioning that an ambulance was on the way would have solved the whole problem, I think. I will try to get the recording and post it.

[trauma74 111]

This is my take on calling 911 and being asked all of the EMD questions. I will give you the side of being an EMT and the side of being a dispatcher. As an EMT, if and when I call 911 one of the first things I do is tell the calltaker who I am as well as what certification I hold. I make the request for whatever service I need i.e. "My wife is having an allergic reaction and I need an ambulance to my location ASAP". I know what treatment I have to provide to my wife until the bus arrives at my house. I will not stay on the phone to listen to EMD instructions, but these instructions are not needed. If the dispatcher was trying to keep me on the phone, I would again repeat myself, ask if there was a bus on the way and hang up the phone. I can understand why the FF said what he said. I sympathize with him.

When I am at work and I am dispatching and someone calls me for a bus and they identify themselves with their name and certification. I will tone out the bus, let the caller know that the bus is enroute and then I will end the call. I am not going to stay on the phone and tell someone who can provide better patient care than I can tell them to do over the phone.

[Guest partyrock]

The guy said something under a high stress situation. The only reason this hit the press is someone wanted to add fuel to the political fire. The ff shot his mouth off nothing more.