Fire chief & former medical director give different versions of EMS in DC – Watch hearing
A week ago, a wise friend told me he was trying to figure out what it says about the Nation’s Capital that a doctor who could run EMS operations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and then help lead the rebuilding of that system, can’t last more than seven months as medical director of the DC Fire & EMS Department.
There were lot of people still trying to figure that one out yesterday (Wednesday) during a DC City Council hearing. The hearing had testimony from both that doctor, Jullette Saussy, and her former boss, Chief Gregory Dean. Some of the people most puzzled and disturbed by Saussy’s sudden departure and brutal resignation letter are the council members. With their questioning, they tried to better understand the falling out between the chief and the doctor.
Watch the hearing in the player above. Dr. Saussy’s testimony begins at about 33:30.
What the City Council and many others are really scared of is the latest news hints at more of the same for EMS in DC, despite promises of great things when the new mayor brought in the Dean and Saussy team last year. It gives the appearance of the same revolving door in leadership that has plagued the system for decades, along with another false start.
Based on that history, you have to wonder how bad it was between the two that Chief Dean couldn’t make this relationship work. It’s clear, by the questioning, that the City Council sees this divorce as a major setback.
Click here if the video above fails to play
Despite that, for the most part, the City Council isn’t ready to abandon Chief Dean. The biggest challenge for the chief will be what occurs in the coming months. Council members may not be so nice if, on top of this, the roll-out of AMR to handle low priority transports isn’t a smooth one. And it will probably get even rougher for the chief if any future well-publicized mistakes in the field are related to any of the major issues highlighted by Dr. Saussy.
What Chief Dean still has going for him, besides his long experience in Seattle, is a public demeanor that lacks the ego of recent chiefs. It has allowed him to handle some of the bad news that has plagued the system much better than his predecessors. This includes reaching out to relatives of those who were victims of a poor response by the department and/or the 911 center. It also remains a plus that Chief Dean truly likes being around the firefighters, EMTs and paramedics who work for the department and isn’t constantly at war with them.
Chief Dean has acknowledged there’s a lot of impatience in the city about EMS. People want this decades old disaster to be fixed now. The loss of Dr. Saussy is increasing the impatience and the skepticism. Chief Dean is going to need some wins on his side soon to erase the memory of this latest ugly chapter.
