Pittsburgh EMS has been thrown into a controversy after a Hazelwood man died February 7^th who had called EMS 10 times over a two day period seeking help for a stomach ailment. It is a terrible tragedy to be sure. From a Public Information standpoint, the Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Michael Huss and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl have been blunt with their reactions to the episode. It remains to be seen what happens over the next several days but initial reaction has fulfilled some of the main tenets of The Fire PIO’s 7 primary responses to a crisis.

Here is some background information on the story:

WTAE TV REPORT

PITTSBURGH POST GAZETTE STORY

1. Prompt Response – Although I am still investigating why it took 10 days to release the history of the call, (please comment if you know more facts) once the story did break in the media, the Mayor and Public Safety Director were quick to respond to the public.

 2. Accept Uncertainty – Although all facts have not been totally digested Pittsburgh officials were quick to admit what they did know and also admit what they did not currently know.

 ”We should have gotten there,” Public Safety Director Michael Huss said. “It’s that simple.”

“I’m deeply disappointed, angry and most of all sad that this event occurred. We failed this person.”

Complicating matters, communication problems meant that each call was seen as an individual request for help. Information gained on previous calls was not passed down during the next request, said Ron Roth, medical director for the city’s public safety department and Allegheny County’s emergency operations center.

“As a result, we made the same request over and over,” he said.

3. Acknowledge Public Concern

 “We owe our apologies to [Curtis] Mitchell’s relatives, and specifically [Sharon] Edge, his girlfriend,” said Public Safety Director Michael Huss. “Our citizens deserve better, and they’re going to get better.”

“I’m deeply disappointed, angry and most of all sad that this event occurred. We failed this person.”

The city planned today to start dispatching firefighters as first responders on medical calls of the two highest grades of severity, and on calls of the third highest level that remained unanswered for more than 30 minutes. Firefighters are currently only called as first responders to the most severe incidents.

4. Be Open and Honest

“The fact is, the guy needed help,” Huss said. “Simply getting this patient to the hospital is all that would have needed to happen.”

5. Communicate Compassion

  The Mayor and officials have been open and acknowledge a major flaw in their EMS system.

 “It’s unacceptable what happened,” Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said. “It needs to change. We’re talking about somebody who lost their life, and it’s no small matter.”

6. Start to make tangible corrections to avoid a similar crisis in the future.

 Mr. Huss said the dispatch system is not set up to take into account a caller’s history, so no one noted the repetitive nature of the calls.

He said he wants to change the system so dispatchers can take call history into account, but added that it would take time.

7. Be Accessible to the Media

 Officials have been available and forthright with their statements.

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