Dateline: Washington, D.C.

In an article written by Monica Crowley of the Washington Times, Donald Trump is described as a street fighter for the GOP.

Well, some of our city officials seem to think a street car, that runs 2 miles in Northeast, is more important then fixing ongoing problems that have plagued our city for years like crime, housing, 911, and the Metro for example.

Maybe concerned citizens in DC need to get rid of, (vote out), some of the old dead weight we have sitting on the council and elect a few new, tough, no-nonsense Street Fighters to set priorities in order and make our city great again. If you agree, remember this during future local elections.

Trump illustration by… Alexander Hunter. 🙂

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Commentary by: Alison Green, US News and World Report

Do you know what rights you have at work? You might assume that your Agency’s managers and supervisors understand Labor Law and always follow the rules, but in reality many employers regularly violate employment law, either knowingly or unknowingly.

Listed in this report are the most common ways that managers and supervisors break workplace labor laws, some of them being so common that most employees don’t even realize their rights are being violated. Take a look and see if you spot anything here that your Agency should be doing differently. (click here)

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Commentary by: Jillian A. Cohen |  ja_cohen@theconcernedcitizen.net

“It’s ten after ten on a Wednesday morning and a stabbing victim is in cardiac arrest. Where are all the ambulances?” This pic and statement, released by Paul Wagner on Twitter, exposes three deep rooted problems that have plagued this city for years, in my estimation.

Number 1: City official’s refusal to implement an ongoing media campaign focusing on public awareness with a concentration on the proper use of our 911 system.

Number 2: City official’s unwillingness to admit policy failures and reverse same. Such as; The DCFEMS’s Dual Role training program, which effectively forces firemen to become medical personnel. As a former paramedic, I believe this program is counter productive. Firefighting is a science, a hard enough craft to perfect in it’s own rite. Pre-med, which is what EMT’s and Paramedics practice on a daily basis, is like fire science in that the discipline is just as hard to learn and as challenging to get right, especially on the streets of DC in emergency situations.

Number 3: City official’s failure to act in a responsible manner to purchase enough ems units to cover a city of this size, (especially when citizens are allowed to call 911 and request an ambulance for finger rings that are to tight, or even a doctor’s appointment), and to hire and/or train enough personnel to man the units in order to keep the 2 aforementioned disciplines totally separate like they were years ago when the entire 911 system seemed to work better. In those days the 911 system itself operated as 2 separate disciplines, MPD and Fire.

Again, our elected officials chose the Cost over Concern for the safety of the citizens and visitors of the Nation’s Capital.

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Commentary by: Jillian A. Cohen |  ja_cohen@theconcernedcitizen.net

We’ve featured several reports over the years calling for real change, both internally and externally, at DC’s 911 center. Citizens of the District have seen a host of Directors paraded through the communications division since it was taken from under the control of the Police (MPD) and Fire (DCFD) chiefs respectively and the Office of Unified Communications was established. Which, in my estimation, was the worst decision ever made by a Mayor. Its seems as though money was the motive instead of citizen concern and our citizens have suffered ever since.

Unless the aforementioned decision is reversed and the chiefs are restored to full control or the new Director initiates serious and immediate change, I fear that 911 will continue to be a JOKE in DC and our citizens will continue suffer and die, which is not a joke at all.

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DC Council members gave approval to a proposal that will allow the city to hire private ambulance to increase the size of the Fire Department’s troubled ambulance fleet. Now at first glance this ruling looks good and may temporarily solve some problems with service but its not a permanent fix, rules regarding when citizens can request and receive transport services to area hospitals need to be changed. The approval of this proposal does however serve to highlight the ugly blemish on DC’s record and our city official’s ability to effectively manage services.

What’s next, private police? 

And just how much will this move eventually cost District taxpayers? The Concerned Citizen predicts that numerous law suits will be filed by lawyers of people who will certainly claim that they did not receive the same standard of care that’s provided by DCFEMS.

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