PITTSBURGH — The union representing a Pittsburgh paramedic who was fired after she said she wouldn’t be “waiting all day” for a dying 911 caller to walk from his Hazelwood home to her ambulance this morning praised an arbitrator’s ruling to reinstate her.
City officials said yesterday that Josie Dimon would not return to work yet because they are appealing the arbitrator’s ruling.
“The arbitrator agreed with the union’s evidence that Dimon was made a scapegoat for the tragedy of Curtis Mitchell’s death, after (Mayor Luke Ravenstahl) and Director of Public Safety Michael Huss were out of town during the snow emergency and were subject to media criticism for their failure to be present,” Fraternal Association of Professional Paramedics President Anthony Weinmann said in a prepared statement.
Mitchell, 50, and his partner, Sharon Edge, made 10 calls to 911 about his stomach pain during the weekend of Feb. 6, 2010, when 21 inches of snow gridlocked the city.
Dispatchers urged Mitchell to walk across a bridge several blocks to an ambulance at one point. Mitchell died Feb. 7 of natural causes afer waiting 30 hours for medical help.
Dimon, an 11-year veteran who was acting crew chief of Medic 8, was fired last spring, and other emergency employees were disciplined in the incident. The arbitrator ruled that Dimon should be reinstated with full pay, except for a three-day suspension.
“The arbitrator found the ‘conduct of others in this ugly and lamentable storm scenario was far more culpable than that of (Dimon).’” Weinmann’s statement read.
Republished with permission from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Revew