Augusta Fire Chief Antonio Burden has amended the department’s policy on when firefighters and EMTs can force their way into a private residence during a non-fire-related emergency.
The new policy gives firefighters and EMTs far more discretion to force entry without having to wait on backup from the Sheriff’s Office. The former policy only allowed firefighters and EMTs to forcefully enter a residence if they could physically see someone incapacitated.
The new policy has been amended so that firefighters can break down a door if they are positive that they are at the correct address and that “a reasonable suspicion exists that a patient is unconscious or incapacitated.”
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The former policy was in force on April 21 when Nichoel Gaither, 43, died still holding her phone with a 911 operator on the other end while Augusta firefighters milled around her front yard waiting for a deputy to arrive so they could enter her home, according to the 911 recording. Gaither died that night of a coronary pulmonary embolism.
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Firefighters and EMTs were unable to intervene because they could not physically see through the window and identify anyone in distress, as the old policy required. The 911 dispatcher never informed them that Gaither had given them permission to enter the property by force. EMTs waited 15 minutes for a deputy to arrive.
Records and emails requested through the Georgia Open Records Act reveal that Burden seemed to be walking a tightrope on the issue, with City Administrator Odie Donald advising him against any “knee-jerk reaction.”
Meanwhile, the local news media, including The Augusta Press, pressured Burden either to act or to explain his inaction on the matter. Liz Owens of WRDW-TV was particularly blunt, reminding Burden through his public information officer, Jason Dehart, that she was not going to give up requesting updates.
“Next week will mark eight weeks since I first notified the department about the forced entry policy and the incident involving Gaither. I will be following up with you each week on the progress of your review and sharing it with our viewers,” Owens wrote in an email to Dehart on Sept. 17.
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The Augusta Press followed the same policy of almost daily phone calls and open records requests to the department. According to emails received through the open records request, Dehart dutifully passed along all of the media requests to Burden.
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According to a source in the fire department who wished not to be named, Burden decided to change the policy quietly and to notify department employees of the policy change, but he did not hold a press conference that might draw the ire of his boss, Donald, or maybe even cause more legal issues for the city should Gaither’s family sue over wrongful death.
Phillip Brigham, president of the Augusta Professional Firefighters Association, applauded Burden for his actions and says Burden is working behind the scenes to end the decades-long malaise in the department.
“We applaud Chief Burden for doing his due diligence in releasing a well-rounded policy versus the reactive policies we have suffered in the past,” Brigham said.
Burden informed the Augusta Commission Oct. 12 that he intends to put together a panel that includes other fire chiefs throughout the state to conduct an overhaul of the department’s entire policy manual.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
