Two Washington D.C. firefighters have been accused of stopping to get food at a Chick-fil-A restaurant instead of doing their job.
According to NBC’s 4 Washington, on March 24, a woman experienced chest pain at an office in Northeast D.C., and emergency services were contacted.
“Ambulance 3 and Medic 3 respond for ALS (advanced life support) chest pain for a 57-year-old female at Kaiser Permanente,” an emergency dispatcher said, cited by NBC’s 4 Washington.
The report also says that ALS calls are priority calls. However, two firefighters assigned to Ambulance 3 said that the day was busy, and they were hungry and fatigued and decided to stop for food instead of making Permanente their priority.
NBC 4 Washington adds that firefighters went to a Chick-fil-A, located at 14th Street and Maryland Avenue NE, about a mile from Permanente.
“The firefighters said they had already ordered their food on an app when the emergency call came in, so they decided to stop for “literally a few minutes tops,” according to a D.C. Fire and EMS special report obtained by News4,” NBC 4 Washington writes.
NBC 4 Washington adds, “Ambulance 3 was assigned to the call because it was closer than Medic 3.” According to a special report obtained by NBC 4 Washington, the firefighters who stopped for Chick-fil-A said they arrived at the emergency destination at the same time as Medic 3.
“Our response monitoring system captured an anomaly in the response of Ambulance 3. This has led to an investigation and both crew members of Ambulance 3 have been placed in [a] no patient contact status,” Fire and EMS said in a statement, cited by NBC 4 Washington.
The report says the woman suffering from chest pains was transported to a local hospital by D.C. Fire and EMS.