It’s remarkable how one can get such a different perspective on an issue when reading two different newspapers covering the same story.
We are referring particularly to the story of a North Babylon fire chief who was caught on video scolding a 10-year-old child as she was loaded onto an ambulance. The responder was heard to say, “Shut the f…up.”
The child is heard crying and saying she wants to go back home. At first glance, it looked rather horrible and that this fire chief was way out of line. In fact, he was suspended by both the department and his employer, the Long Island Rail Road.
At first blush, it certainly looked that his actions warranted discipline. But then, if you read the New York Post, you see further information that wasn’t in the other article.
It’s here that one can read another relevant quote from the responder: “It’s like this with you every f…ing week.”
Apparently, the mother of this child made it a habit of calling 911 seeking an ambulance whenever her 10-year-old had a tantrum. And apparently it was quite often. In this case, she was in a tizzy because the mom took her phone away. Rather than taking appropriate parental steps and dealing with her child, she simply called the fire department to come and deal with her daughter. The members of the department had become quite frustrated because these calls were distracting them from real emergencies.
In this case, the chief, who obviously had been there many times before, lost his cool. It was obviously an inappropriate response on his part. Even if he was justifiably frustrated, he had no right to be cursing at this 10- year-old.
But where was the mother? And where was the father of this child? (There was no mention of him in either article.) Why is this parent calling first responders to deal with a 10-year-old having a typical fit when she doesn’t get her way?
Imagine if every parent did this. How many people would die from cardiac arrest because our first responders were wrongfully detained from tending to these types of situations?
The chief should be disciplined for his language and losing his temper, but he should not lose his job with the LIRR and his ability to make a living. The person who should be reprimanded the most is the parent of this child.
As the Post editorial said, show some tough love, not only for the welfare of your child, but to prevent the wrongful use of our first responders.