Newslog #16

Firefighter Refused Call to Giffords Shooting

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/17/firefighter-refused-call-to-giffords-shooting/

In the Tucson, Arizona shooting last month, a firefighter refused to respond to a call because he believed that "political bantering" would get in the way of Senator Gabby Giffords' condition. The firefighter, Mark Ekstrum, and his team are especially trained to handle extensive medical emergencies. They didn't go to the crime scene until 90 minutes after the shooting occured. Ekstrum's boss said that his actions delayed the team and that they could have gotten more accomplished if they had just gotten there on time. In result, Ekstrum retired two days after the shooting, yet his bosses were still pondering on how to punish him. The boss, Williams, had stated that Ekstrum had started to say something about how he had a different political viewpoint than the rest of him team and was worried about what would happen at the crime scene. Ekstrum replied by saying that that statement was false and that he actually had voted for Giffords in the last election.

Whether or not Ekstrum had different political viewpoints than Giffords and his team is no excuse to not perform his duty. He should have put his differences aside to help save peoples' lives. Granted, he did feel guilty about his actions, because he "retired" two days after. But if I ever found out that a firefighter didn't help save me because they had different viewpoints than me, I would be furious.