City leaders delay private ambulance contract after woman dies in cold, push for policy change
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"We hold this contract, and we hold their feet to the fire and say these are the changes we want to see," District 5 Alderman Lamot Westmoreland said.
Westmoreland sponsored a resolution that passed unanimously on Tuesday that urges the Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) and all certified ambulance service providers to adopt or modify standard operating guidelines to require responders exit their vehicles and search for people in crisis.
The resolution came after Jolene Waldref died in January after slipping and falling at a bus stop on 76th and Congress. Waldref did call for help, and just minutes later, a Curtis Ambulance responded, but they never located Waldref. First responders did not get out of their vehicle to search for her. It was not until 22 minutes after her 911 call that she was found, but it was too late.
"Every avenue has to be explored to make sure this doesn't happen again," Westmoreland said.
In a separate action, the Common Council discussed sending the contracts of these private ambulances back to the Public Safety Committee.
"The fact that the contract is up now, now that tragedy just happened, it gives us a blessing of an opportunity to change it," District 15 Alderman Russell Stamper said.
The contract was sent back to the committee, as many city leaders expressed concern with the current policy and procedure.
"If we're going to wait to have things in writing, why would we put forward the contracts that don't have that embodied and codified in the language?" District 14 Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic said.
According to Westmoreland, the council can modify the policy with a 2/3 vote, but he wants to give MFD and the private ambulance companies a chance to do what he calls the right thing.
"I want to see it in writing because a couple of weeks ago, we all saw the press conference where we were told, 'We didn't do anything wrong. This is not in our policy.' Again, I want to avoid anybody having the opportunity to get up on a podium and say that. It'll never happen again," he said.
On Wednesday, Bell Ambulance, Curtis Ambulance, and MFD will meet to review procedures for when a patient cannot be located on a 911 call.
On Monday, CBS 58 interviewed Curtis Ambulance CEO James Baker, who explained this situation exposed gaps in the emergency dispatch system that he and others want to fix.