MEDFORD, Mass — A fire alarm operator and three firefighters have been disciplined after the department failed to respond to a medical call that resulted in a fatality.
On July 13, a midnight medical call was received but no one was dispatched and the patient consequently died, according to WHDH.
The Medford fire chief and mayor said that the fire alarm operator did not send the proper alert to a neighborhood station. When the operator used the radio system to alert the firefighters, all three of their radios were turned down so low they never heard the call.
The fire alarm operator falsified what occurred in a log saying the fire department had arrived on the scene, according to the report. The operator was suspended without pay for two weeks while the three other firefighters were given written reprimands.