Because of a lack of ambulances, Columbus Fire and EMS personnel transported a baby girl to the hospital in a fire truck where she was pronounced dead minutes later.
According to a report published in the Ledger-Enquirer, a local newspaper, a 911 call was received from an apartment on Forest Avenue reporting a 4-month-old girl in cardiac distress. Because there were no ambulances available, a fire engine was dispatched one minute after the call came in at 5:13 pm on Wednesday. A ladder truck from the same station self dispatched because they were potentially closer to the address, the report said.
Both apparatus arrived four minutes after the call was paged and a private ambulance was dispatched at 5:17, but was 10 minutes out, the newspaper reported.
First responders, who were either EMTs or paramedics started CPR on the infant and were on the scene less than two minutes when the baby was put in the engine and taken to Midtown Medical Center with two paramedics.
In a statement to the press, Columbus Fire & EMS said it was extremely rare to transport patients in a fire engine, but was done in the best interest of the child.
At 5:45 p.m., 32 minutes after the initial call was made, the girl was pronounced dead, according to the newspaper.
The newspaper reported the baby was put to bed by her father at 3:30 p.m. and when her mother came home, the baby was unresponsive and the mother called 911 immediately.
The cause of death had not been immediately determined and an autopsy was ordered, per state law that states it’s required for anyone who dies under 17 years old, the paper reported.
The incident remains under investigation.
