Argo — The Argo City Council is contemplating its response to a local family’s allegations that two firefighters didn’t do enough when an injured child was brought to the fire department for medical help. A special called session will be scheduled in the near future to discuss actions to be taken, as Councilman Steve Medori was not present during their most recent council meeting.

“Due to the serious nature of the incident and the process undergone, it needs to be addressed by a full council,” Councilman Bill Rutledge said.  

During their May council meeting, the city council heard from local citizen and food bank coordinator Betty Bradley, who spoke of the incident involving her daughter and 10-month-old grandson.

According to complaint forms, around 8:15 a.m. May 1, Kevin and Kristina Bradley’s 10-month-old son fell down eight hardwood stairs at the Bradleys’ home, causing a nosebleed and possible head and facial injuries. Kristina Bradley drove the child to the Argo Fire Department “so they could look at him and tell me if he was stable enough to take [to Children’s Hospital] by car or if he needed to go by ambulance,” according to Bradley’s complaint.

When they arrived, Bradley said the firefighters never touched the child or did anything to examine him, simply stating that “a screaming baby is a good baby,” and “by the time we get an ambulance here, you will be halfway to the hospital.”

Statements from the firefighters involved said the child was clinging to his mother, appeared to be breathing normally, was moving all of his extremities and did not have any obvious fractures or dislocations.

The firefighters reflected use of the Pediatric Assessment Triangle, which allow first-responders to quickly evaluate the condition of a child based on visual cues. The triangle focuses on appearance, breathing and circulation, using things like respiratory rate and effort, skin signs and colors and the child’s mental status. It’s designed as a “hands-off” approach to prevent agitating a pediatric patient from coming into contact with a stranger.  

The firefighter statements note that the closest ambulance unit was out on a call, causing a delay in the ambulance’s arrival. They asked if Bradley wanted an ambulance or if she’d prefer to take the child herself, noting “’If you take the child now, you could possibly be halfway there before the ambulance gets here.’ … I told the mother this knowing that she did not call 911 to wait for someone to respond to her home, she obviously felt a sense of urgency.”

The mother then took the child to Children’s Hospital on her own. A Patient Care Report was never filed on the incident.

A letter from Adam Robertson, medical director of the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System, said the firefighters’ response was appropriate given the circumstances. “An infant that is alert, crying and responding appropriately to stimuli, moving all extremities and making eye contact would not benefit from having a blood pressure check at that time,” Robertson wrote. “There is no intervention or protocol that would require a blood pressure or further evaluation given the circumstances as presented.”

Both the statements from the paramedics and from BREMSS stated that had an ambulance been called, a blood pressure, pulse and oxygen saturation would have been taken, and a patient record generated.

On May 9, written disciplinary action was taken against the two firefighters involved for failure to generate a Patient Care Report for the incident, as well as another that occurred in previous months when Betty Bradley fell in the parking lot and hit her head. Bradley said she did not receive adequate medical care from firefighters at that point, either.

Still, the family reflected concerns that they felt like Kristina Bradley was blamed for the incident, and expressed concern about ambulance response time in the event of two emergencies at the same time.

“They’re not bad firemen, but they didn’t do their job. They didn’t file the proper paperwork. This reads like the paperwork was more important than the child,” Betty Bradley stated during Monday’s council meeting. “You can do the visual examination, that’s fine and dandy, but then you need to take the next step. Several fire departments have said they needed to take the next step.”

They also had skepticism about the child never being touched during their assessment. Kristina Bradley is a nurse, and said that proper protocol was not followed in her opinion.

“[The PAT] doesn’t excuse you from touching a child,” Kevin Bradley said. “It says to use before touching a child.”

Further information will be published as it becomes available.

 Argo becomes a city July 1.

As a result of their growth shown in the last census, the town of Argo will be officially considered a city on July 1.

Due to their new status as a city, the town will be forced to move from monthly city council meetings to bi-monthly meetings.

Mayor Paul Jennings suggested to the council that the current council meeting time, 7 p.m. on the first Monday of each month, remain intact. However, he asked the council to consider scheduling the second meeting of the month during the daytime, to accommodate residents who may not be able to make evening meetings. No action was taken on the matter, but is expected at the upcoming meeting.

Other actions taken include:

— A request by Fire Chief Mike Platts to add volunteer firefighters onto the city’s disability insurance coverage was approved. Platts estimated that the plan would cost $50 per volunteer firefighter and would cover 10 to 15 members of the force. The fees will be paid in full from a Volunteer Recruitment and Retention grant awarded to the city.

— The council approved the founding of a Fire & Emergency Services Explorer post in Argo through the Boy Scouts of America. The program comes at no cost to the city, and has insurance coverage through Boy Scouts. The group is open to young men and women ages 14 to 20 who want to learn more about careers in Fire and Emergency Services.

— The council agreed to sign on to the town of Argo’s portion of a countywide grant application for fire department digital radio equipment. Argo is set to receive $29,500 worth of equipment, which includes radio equipment for every fire truck, as well as handheld radios for every seated position in each vehicle, which Platts said is more equipment than they currently have available. Argo will be required to pay $7,300 as their portion of the local match for the county. The new equipment will meet upcoming FCC frequency requirements.

— A fee schedule for police department employees and vehicles responding to extraordinary circumstances, like interstate crashes or hazardous material cleanup, was approved. The city will charge $100 per vehicle for the first two hours, then $25 per hour afterward, plus materials, fuel and the cost of replacing contaminated or damaged equipment.

— Officer John Perry was commended by the Argo Police Department for his involvement in apprehending an individual involved in a Moody burglary. The suspect also gave information on two accomplices, a total of three felony arrests.

— Jim Link was re-appointed to the Zoning Board.

— A fee of $150 with $7.50 per certified letter required was approved for all zoning change and variance requests, for both the Zoning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustments.

— Ralph Johnsey asked the council for a vote to deannex his property, as he said he was not properly notified when he and his brother’s properties were annexed in 1993. Johnsey said he spoke with Rep. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, who said for him to deannex at the legislative level, he required a resolution from the town of Argo with a unanimous ‘yes’ vote. Jennings declined to call for another vote, and told Johnsey that he would not be allowed on the council’s agenda for the deannexation request for the remainder of the current council’s term.