Kentland Bypassed on First Working Incident. Incident Commander Denied Request for Rescue Engine 33.

These are pictures from the already much talked about fatal wreck on Route 50 in Prince George’s County, MD Wednesday morning. They come from firehouseguy who posted a series of photos on thewatchdesk.com.

A fatal crash on Route 50 in Bowie, Maryland is quickly taking on meaning much beyond the tragic collision itself. Within minutes after it occurred, leaving two people trapped under a van on the side of the highway, the phones were ringing and the web was alive with chatter, putting this incident into the middle of a heated battle over how ambulance service is provided in Prince George’s County.

The significance of this crash is that it is the first working incident where, at the orders of Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Lawrence Sedgwick, units from the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department were not dispatched to the scene, even though they were staffed, and closer than other fire and rescue equipment. A press release on Monday explained Chief Sedgwick’s orders that none of Kentland’s units will respond out of Station 33’s first-due response area. The only exception, according to a PGFD spokesman, will be if a Kentland unit is the closest to a call

This action was taken as the latest development in a 7-month long dispute over whether an ambulance will run out of Station 33. Here is the reasoning given in the press release for limiting Kentland’s response:

The Fire/EMS Department will reduce the amount of mutual aid responses of the Kentland Fire Department to ensure personnel are available to respond to the more than 5100 Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance calls within their first due response area.

On Thursday morning’s call on Route 50, two rescue squads were needed to extricate the two victims under the vehicle. Tony Kelleher, who was suspended as Kentland’s acting chief by Chief Sedgwick on Monday, tells STATter 911 that there were 2 crews staffing Station 33 at the time the run was dispatched.

According to information STATter 911 has been provided, Station 33 would be second due at the location of the incident, which is considered box area 28-12:

Run Card 28-12: Stations: 28, 33, 30, 48, 38, 18, 22, 46, 8, 43

If Kentland had not been restricted to its first-due area, Rescue Engine 33, equipped for extrications, would have been dispatched on the initial call. It wasn’t sent on the run, even though the incident commander asked for two rescue companies and specifically wanted Rescue Engine 33.

STATter 911 has confirmed that Glenn Dale Volunteer Fire Association Chief Tony McGillin (Chief 18), who was the incident commander, posted the following message on thewatchdesk.com:

As the incident commander. I asked for the second “Rescue Squad” Not carring wether it was a Squad or Rescue Engine. They both carry the same thing. When it was told to me that Squad 8 was the Squad (6th due ?Squad I believe), I advised Bureau Chief 12 I intended to request RE33…… The rest will not be said on here I will note it in the Operations Report.

The position of the car on the hill and being on top of two patients (1 under rear axle and 1 under front axle) was the reasoning for the second squad. All in all things went well considering.

The rest that Chief McGillin did not say, according to sources familiar with the incident, is that the request for Rescue Engine 33 was denied. The two extrication units that were dispatched on the call are Rescue Engine 18 from Glenn Dale and Rescue Squad 8 from Seat Pleasant. According to the dispatch information, Station 18 is the sixth closest fire station to the scene and Station 8 is the ninth closest.

Computerized dispatch information about this call, automatically generated and from entries made by dispatchers, gives the following timeline:

Tony Kelleher tells STATter 911 that this incident is “really frustrating”. Kelleher feels Rescue Engine 33 could have gotten to the scene sooner and possibly made a difference. Kelleher said, “In our job, every second counts”.

Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Chief Spokesman Mark Brady, in an email, wrote the following about this timeline:

The numbers are taken directly off of the CAD printout and are as accurate as a CAD printout can be. I believe the crews did a tremendous job on an extremely challenging extrication by saving a viable victim in about 30 minutes after arrival. Crews knew the last extrication was a priority 4 long before.

Keep in mind – to get a realistic time frame you would need to listen to the tapes, the CAD is only as accurate as information is entered into the system.

Brady also said when it was dispatched, Rescue Squad 8 was at the fuel pumps at the Prince George’s County Police Station on Barlowe Road. Brady points out the police lot is actually closer to the scene than Station 33.

Earlier Mark Brady said that bypassing Kentland “had no impact on the outcome of this incident”. When STATter 911 asked what if it would have had an impact, Brady responded,”I’m not here to speculate”.

Tony Kelleher said it is agonizing listening to an incident on the radio knowing you were available and could possibly have made a difference. Kelleher believes it is “the citizens who are suffering”.

Mark Brady also told STATter 911, “We find it totally inappropriate for anyone to use a tragedy like this to further their cause”.

Later on Wednesday, Kentland’s fire and rescue equipment was dispatched to a working incident. In the evening, Engine 331 and Rescue Engine 33 responded to 6707 West Forest Road. The difference here is that the call was in Kentland’s first-due response area, just a half-dozen blocks from the firehouse.