Being across the street from emergency responders didn’t mean help was nearby for a 77-year-old Washington, D.C. man who died over the weekend after first responders at one of the capital city’s Fire/EMS stations allegedly refused to help him.
Medrick “Cecil” Mills was running errands with his family when he suffered a massive heart attack and collapsed. Because this happened across the street from a D.C. fire station, several people ran across the street believing help was nearby, WTTG-TV reported Monday.
D.C. Firefighters allegedly refuse to help man dying from heart attack across the street
Medrick “Cecil” Mills, 77, died after fire fighters allegedly refused to help him during a heart attack near the station. (Source: WTTG-TV screen shot)
“When it’s a cardiac case, seconds matter and they didn’t help my dad,” said Marie Mills, the man’s daughter, in an interview on the Fox affiliate.
“He said something about his lieutenant and some type of authorization, and that he could not come and to recall dispatch and advise them that they needed to send somebody, and that the condition of the patient could be getting worse,” the daughter explained regarding the response Good Samaritans received.
“When I saw my dad was having shallow breaths, I ran to the curb and started screaming for him to come and help my father,” she added.”
Medrick collapsed in Northeast D.C. But when an ambulance and engine were actually dispatched from another location, sources told WTTG, they went to the wrong address on the other side of the city.
D.C. Fire Department spokesman Tim Wilson told TheBlaze the department is conducting a full investigation of the matter, which happened outside Engine 26.
“Our duty is to respond to all requests for emergency assistance,” Wilson said. “If it is determined that proper protocols were not followed at the conclusion of our investigation, then appropriate action will be taken. No further comment will be provided by the department.”
WTTG says that Mills talked to D.C. Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe on the phone. The chief promised her an internal investigation.
“I mean everybody was screaming and hollering at him across the street,” Marie Mills said. “Why [couldn’t] he come? It’s not making sense and I think it was three separate people who went across to the fire station.”
Watch Marie’s emotional interview:
Medrick was himself an employee of the District of Columbia. Even at age 77, he continued working for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
“That’s how much he loved Department of Parks and Recreation and his city,” Marie Mills said, “And he died in the city that didn’t do anything to help him.”
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