Firefighters release arbitrator’s report regarding delayed response

According to IAFF Local 4269 in Ocean City, an independent arbitrator found “it is more likely than not that there was a technical (error) which caused a failure in the alert-system via the radio, the pager and the station-alert loud-speakers,” regarding a delayed response to an assault call in 2015.

The original allegation from the Fire Department accused a Firefighter Parademic and two other employees of sleeping through a call which led to a delay in response time.

Officials say the incident happened around 1:30 AM on July 29, 2015, while the Firefighter Paramedic and two other employees were working at Station 3, when Ocean City Department of Emergency Services Communications Division received a an EMS request for an assault victim.

According to the IAFF’s release of the arbitrator’s findings, the dispatcher intended to send Paramedic 3, but did not follow proper protocol, and the department’s alerting system failed to properly operate.

Beyond that, the arbitrator reportedly failed to react and reassign another Paramedic to the call when Paramedic 3 did not respond.

The IAFF’s released report says the department’s alerting system, which lets out a series of alarms for those intended to respond to the call, failed to trigger. The arbitrator reportedly has recognized the alert system has “all too regularly” malfunctioned.

The Firefighter Paramedic was reportedly suspended from one of the department’s 24-hour shifts, and the IAFF claims this action was not necessary, as proven by the arbitrator’s report.

47 ABC spoke with IAFF Local 4269 President Ryan Whittington, who says he believes the report will help the IAFF with negotiations with city council, in an effort to keep the 24-hour schedule, rather than changing to the city’s proposed 12-hour shifts.