Captain James Kelley, a volunteer firefighter in Stafford County, has one tiny pink-and-blue shoe. It belongs to an 18-month-old girl he transported to the hospital in his fire engine.
He hopes to return the shoe when she visits the Falmouth Fire Station, and he hopes that happens soon.
The infant, who was having a seizure when Kelley drove her to the emergency room, is at home and doing well. And Kelley is back at work, responding to emergency calls from the Falmouth Volunteer Fire Station.
Kelley and Sgt. Virgil Bloom were taken off duty for more than a week while the department conducted a review of why they transported the young girl to Mary Washington Hospital in a fire engine instead of waiting for an ambulance. The department’s decision to suspend the firefighters was met with public outrage.
Fire Chief Mark Lockhart announced Monday that the pair were reinstated.
When Kelley thinks back on the Feb. 27 emergency call that led him to that 18-month-old, he says he wouldn’t do anything differently.
Kelley and Bloom, responding to an emergency call, were the first to arrive at the McDonald’s restaurant near the Ferry Farms neighborhood last Saturday.
Kelley was the officer in charge, and said the 18-month-old was having a seizure and was blue from her chest to her head.
On his way to the McDonald’s, a medic unit called in over the radio to say they were the closest unit. But Kelley had heard the unit’s prior call was in North Stafford on White Pine Circle.
Kelley didn’t receive an answer from the medic unit after he asked for its location. After his second request, the medic unit only answered “southbound on Route 1.” Kelley figured it would be 10 or 15 minutes before a medic unit would arrive, so he made the decision to put the infant in the fire engine and drive across the Chatham Bridge to Mary Washington Hospital.
According to the county’s review, the medic unit was 4.6 miles away once Kelley’s engine started transporting the girl. Another ambulance was 1.7 miles away.
Once the child was in the fire engine, the ambulance requested to meet up with Kelley at the Falmouth Fire Station. But because the engine was already over the bridge on the way to the hospital, Kelley denied the request.
“The child was placed on a seat in the rear cab of the fire engine in a turnout coat with a seatbelt and held by the crew members,” according to a statement Lockhart made to the press on Monday.
Kelley said the baby, who was given oxygen in the fire engine, was limp and had paralysis on the entire left side of her body when she was admitted to the trauma room at the hospital.
Within hours of responding to the call, Kelley said he and Bloom were no longer allowed to answer emergency calls.
After Lockhart’s announcement Monday, Kelley said he didn’t feel exonerated by the chief, but he was glad to return to service.
He then headed to the Falmouth station to start his next shift.
Lockhart said transporting a patient in a fire engine is unusual and triggered an “internal review.”
He said it violates a state regulation because the fire engine is licensed as a non-transport vehicle. The Stafford Fire and Rescue Department informed the state of the incident, which initiated a review.
Lockhart said the county review determined that medical protocol wasn’t followed.
Michael Berg, manager of regulation and compliance for the Office of Emergency Medical Services, declined to comment on the case because of the ongoing investigation.
He said, however, that no fire engines in Virginia are licensed as transport vehicles. Non-transport vehicles are meant to stabilize patients and wait for medic units unless there are extenuating circumstances such as severe weather events, he said.
Lockhart said he didn’t think the child having a seizure outside the McDonald’s was an extenuating circumstance. But he later admitted such a situation could be difficult to judge.
“I wasn't there. I didn't have my hands on the child,” Lockhart said.
Lockhart went out of his way Monday to say that the firefighters were placed on “non-punitive administrative leave” once the department initiated its review.
But Kelley called it a suspension because it prevented them from performing their main duty: Answering emergency calls.
In emails to Falmouth firefighters, Lockhart indicated that the state’s review needed to be complete before Kelley and Bloom could go back to active duty.
But Lockhart said Monday that the state’s review could still take a few weeks. Despite the ongoing state investigation, he decided to reinstate the volunteers.
Attorney Jason Pelt hoped to represent Kelley—his client—at a meeting with Lockhart on Monday, but Lockhart canceled the meeting because he said he didn’t feel it was a legal matter.
Lockhart said his office will work to resolve emergency medical certification issues that came to light while reviewing the incident. He will also review the department’s practice of handling unusual incidents. He said the department will act on any recommendations they receive from the state office of EMS once their review is complete.
?Vanessa Remmers: 540.735.1975
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