A month after probable hypothermia death, changes to protocol are announced

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – "The primary driving concerns, as it pertained to this incident, some of those heavy hitters among those have been addressed already and are in play."

Exactly one month after 49-year-old Jolene Waldref died in the cold on the corner of 76 and Congress waiting for help, Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski assured members of the Public Saftey and Health Committee that changes to the protocol will be implemented.

Some updates, Lipski said, are already in place in his department, including getting out of ambulances to search for patients who cannot be located.

"We desperately want to prevent another tragedy," Lipski said Thursday.

He said the department and the two private ambulances they partner with, Bell Ambulance and Curtis Ambulance, feel pressure to make this right. Last week, the common council approved a resolution to urge changes in policy by all three and sent an amendment to the private ambulance companies' contracts back to the committee. District 5 Alderman Lamont Westmoreland told CBS 58 that not approving the amendment was to "hold their feet to the fire" to push for procedure changes.

Lipski met with both ambulance companies to decide what needs to be done to ensure a case like Waldref's does not happen again. One critique from the common council and community members is that the first responders who got the first call for help from Waldref did not get out of their vehicle to look for her the first time they were called. That change is one Lipski said is already in play at MFD.

"Unless you can guarantee where you are sent is clear, get out, that's the 'why,'" Lipski explained. "Responders may utilize dispatch to attempt to reconnect with the patient or callers, interact with bystanders who may have information on patient location, and activate their lights and sirens to announce their presence slash arrival at the location."

Many wonder why getting out of the vehicle to search for patients was not already standard, and Lipski said he has not seen a situation like this in his 30-year career, and not many others have either.

"Nobody has seen this happen. I've checked with EMS providers across the state and other EMS providers across the country. Maybe we're trendsetters in a horrible way here. There are not many EMS providers that have a specific policy like this," he said.

"I run the Fire Department. I'll own that. I never thought of it."

Both private ambulance companies said they are on board with the changes and ready to implement them once they are finalized. Curtis Ambulance said they have already started requiring their teams to get out of the vehicle to search for patients who cannot be located, no matter the weather conditions.

"We don't have to be forced to do anything. We have a willingness to comply and do what's right, and we will do that," Curtis Ambulance CEO James Baker said.

Baker also publically apologized for his initial response to the situation during a press conference where he said he did not believe protocol changes were warranted in light of this situation.

"I was looking at this in a very technical way, and I lost some of my compassion doing that," he said.

The Public Safety and Health Committee sent an amendment to the private ambulance companies' contracts that would release funds to them back to the common council, but some council members said they would not approve the amendment until the updates are set in stone.