MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) — A union representative representing most of the Memphis Fire Department said three employees were fired after their deaths. tire nichols they were not given enough information answered the call for medical assistance.
Memphis Firefighters Association president Thomas Malone also wrote in a letter to city council members that people at the scene did not provide information to first responders.
Nichols, who is black, was beaten by Memphis police after being stopped on January 7. Suspected traffic violationHowever, the police Chief Celerin “CJ” Davis The released footage stated that Nichols gave no indication as to why he was stopped.
Union leaders defended the entire fire department, saying its more than 1,600 employees “serve this city and its citizens with purpose and intent every day.”
daily memphian reported and published a copy of a letter stating that “there is no way that members can be truly prepared for the situation that unfolded on January 7, 2023.”
“Our members weren’t given enough information when they were dispatched or when they arrived on site,” Malone wrote. It made me handle things differently than they should have been.”
3 Firefighters Fired After Nichols died. In all, 13 police officers They are being disciplined or under investigation for their role in Nichols’ death. 6 people were laid off Five of them have been charged with murder.Two Shelby County sheriff’s deputies were also suspended.
Two former fire department officers, EMT Robert Long and senior EMT JaMichael Sandridge, said: Professional License Suspended by State Medical BoardLieutenant Michelle Whittaker was the third employee to be laid off. A member of the state’s Emergency Medical Services Board commented that more action could be taken, but her license was not considered subject to suspension.
City of Memphis spokeswoman Alenia Cole told the Daily Memphian that all three former fire department employees have appealed their dismissals.
Fire Chief Gina Sweat said she got a call from police after someone was pepper sprayed. collapsed.
Long and Sandridge said they were “failed to conduct a proper patient evaluation of Mr. Nichols” based on the nature of the call and information passed on to them by police. He said he stayed in the car with the driver.
An ambulance was called and arrived at 8:55 p.m., the statement said. Paramedics tended to Nichols and headed with him to the hospital at 9:08 p.m., 27 minutes after Long, Sandridge and Whitaker arrived.Nichols died three days later.
An investigation determined that all three violated multiple policies and protocols, the statement said.
“They were reacting to what they saw, what they were told on the ground,” Sweat told city council members recently. We weren’t performing at the level we were supposed to.”
Before suspending Long and Sandridge’s licenses earlier this month, the state’s EMS board said two first responders didn’t care for Nichols, who was unable to sit upright on the side of the vehicle. I watched a 19-minute surveillance video showing the
EMS Director Sullivan Smith said it was “clear to the public” that Nichols was “suffering badly and in need of help”.