[RP TownTalk] Tonight's News.

[Roland Walker]

[sarah wrote]
> * Recently a friend needed ambulance service to take him to the
> hospital (he is terminally ill.) The EMTs were making *jokes* about
> his physical condition (which was quite dire) right in front of him,
> as if he couldn't hear them, or perhaps didn't have feelings

I was the one who made the 911 call to which Sarah refers.  The
terminally ill patient was former councilman Gerard Kiernan, who,
because of physical weakness, was trapped in his apartment.  The
rescue team snickered at, and openly mocked, Mr Kiernan's girth, among
other comments and actions too lewd and distasteful to repeat here.

I was floored.  The way they treated a weak and dying man was beyond
unprofessional, and beyond disrespectful -- it was simply cruel and I
would also say bizarre.

Some people will be offended because they support the firemen, but I
saw all of this terrible behavior with my own eyes.  After seeing
that, I could never be swayed from the opinion that the firehouse
should simply be shut down.  I believe that anyone who had been in the
room with me would share that opinion.

R

PS I can speak only for myself, not for Councilwoman Walker.

On 9/26/07, Sarah Wayland <sarah.wayland at gmail.com> wrote:
> For years I've kept my mouth shut about the fire department, but I can
> no longer continue to do so in good faith.
>
> Incidents like this make me think we need to push the county to move
> quickly towards making our firefighters professionals, rather than
> volunteers. A few years ago, this was a definite priority for the
> county; I'm not sure what has happened in the interim.
>
> There have been countless incidents (though none this serious) where
> I've heard of our firefighters behaving in an unprofessional manner.*
> As a resident of the town, I want to be able to count on firefighters
> (who also provide ambulance service) to behave in a professional way.
> Right now, I do not feel that I can count on this.
>
> How can we push our county to insure that we are served by
> firefighters and EMTs who take their duties seriously? Our
> firefighters in the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department are not the
> same caliber of people we honored after 9/11, and for us to continue
> to pretend they are only discredits the honorable men and women who
> *do* take their job seriously.
>
> Just my opinion.
>
> -Sarah Wayland
>
> * Recently a friend needed ambulance service to take him to the
> hospital (he is terminally ill.) The EMTs were making *jokes* about
> his physical condition (which was quite dire) right in front of him,
> as if he couldn't hear them, or perhaps didn't have feelings. I was
> furious when I heard about this. Now, after this story of the teenage
> boy, I can no longer keep quiet.
> _______________________________________________
> TownTalk mailing list
> To post to the list, send mail to TownTalk at riverdale-park.org
> TownTalk-request at riverdale-park.org is for automated subscription processing only
> http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk
>
> For more information about Riverdale Park, visit http://www.ci.riverdale-park.md.us
>