Thursday, January 21, 2010

EMTs Accused of Ignoring Dying BKLYN Mom Back on Job After Suspension

FDNY EMT Jason Green, 32, and Melisa Jackson, 23, returned to work after a 30-day suspension.
DelMundo for News
FDNY EMT Jason Green, 32, and Melisa Jackson, 23,
returned to work after a 30-day suspension.


Two EMTs accused of coldly ignoring a dying pregnant woman because they were on a break returned to work Thursday insisting on their innocence.

Smiling and laughing, Jason Green and Melissa Jackson reported to FDNY headquarters after they were slapped with a 30-day suspension for abandoning Au Bon Pan worker Eutisha Rennix.

"I'm relieved I still have a job," said Green as he hugged a co-worker and playfully swatted another on the shoulder outside Metrotech in downtown Brooklyn.

"This whole thing's been stressful," said Green. "I'm just hanging in there."

The dispatchers, who still face a criminal probe, were grabbing a bagel at a nearby Au Bon Pain when a worker told them 25-year-old Rennix was having trouble breathing.

Rennix, who was six months pregnant, had collapsed and was in the back of the store.

Jackson called a fellow dispatcher to report the incident but witnesses said she and Green did not try to help Rennix themselves.

The mom and her premature baby both died hours later. Green, 32, and Jackson, 23, denied they left the coffee shop and insisted that they did all they could to help.

"Hopefully, the truth will be unveiled, and me and Melissa will have our names cleared," said Green, who offered condolences to Rennix's family.

But he also said he felt sorry for himself, claiming the suspension was a "circus" and a hardship.

"If you had the press knocking on your door, following you, knocking on your mother's door, you'd feel the same way," he said. "It's been hard."

The Department of Investigation and the Brooklyn District Attorney's office are both probing the incident. Criminal charges are possible, according to sources close to the inquiry.

The Fire Department has yet to interview Jackson or Green, but Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said he could not comprehend a member of the FDNY not stopping to help.

"We help, that's what we do - no matter what," Cassano said Thursday. "When you raise your right hand and take that oath, that's what you're pledging to do."

"If you don't want to be the person to help, go find a job somewhere else."

Green and Jackson - who shrugged and said "It's work," when asked how she felt - will start Friday at their new administrative post but will not have any contact with patients, FDNY officials said.

Rennix's co-workers were outraged that the pair was allowed to return to work.

"A girl is dead. I think they should still be off," said Tarsheen Brown, 29. "I asked them for help and they just looked at me like I was stupid."

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