DENVER -- A Northglenn Ambulance crew, accused of failing to respond to a request to help a young boy injured in an auto-pedestrian crash, apparently did call dispatch and relayed what a witness told them.
The witness, who asked to remain anonymous, told Denver7 he was eastbound on his way to Cherry Creek Reservoir Thursday evening, when two boys darted across Leetsdale Drive, running from North to South.
He said they made it across the westbound lanes, then started crossing in front of cars stopped in the eastbound lanes.
They were struck while crossing the eastbound right turn lane.
The witness said the smaller of the two boys apparently took the brunt of the impact.
"He flew 20 yards and lost both shoes."
The witness said he parked his car in a nearby lot, saw a Northglenn Ambulance crew waiting for the light to change on southbound Quebec and ran up to them.
"I said to them the boy has just been hit. He's just there. He's 100 yards away...they didn't move. They weren't responsive."
Angered by the apparent lack of response, the witness videotaped the ambulance crew approaching, then proceeding through the intersection, briefly sounding the siren and then continuing South.
Denver7 reached out to Northglenn Ambulance to ask about the allegations.
A director said she would look into them and get back to us.
She later said the incident was "under investigation," so she "couldn't comment."
Friday night, a viewer/reader posted a radio-communications recording that appears to indicate that the ambulance crew contacted Denver Dispatch and relayed what the witness told them.
On Monday afternoon, Denver Health verified that Northglenn Ambulance did call Denver dispatch, but a spokesman said they couldn't provide a copy of the communication because it contained information, about the patient's condition and location, that is protected by HIPPA.
We know that Denver Fire received a call at 6 p.m. Thursday. We know their first unit arrived just over four minutes later. We know the cell phone video shows the Northglenn Ambulance driving through the intersection with the injured boy lying on the pavement in the background, just west of Quebec.
The radio-communications recording indicates that the Northglenn crew, when asked if they had a patient, replied, “We haven’t located one, but we are in the area.”
The dispatcher said, “It’s going to be on Leetsdale just before Quebec. One party is saying someone looks dead.”
The Northglenn crew again asked which side of the road the victim was in, but there was some confusion on the part of the dispatcher.
The dispatcher said she’d contact the caller, then told the ambulance crew it was “southbound Leetsdale just north of Quebec.”
The ambulance crew then contacted dispatch and told them they were on scene.
The dispatcher asked them their location and was told “on Leetsdale, just west of Quebec.”
At 6:05 p.m. the ambulance crew contacted dispatch and told them “DG made contact with the patient.”
When contacted by phone on Sunday, the witness said his concern is the time it took for the injured boy to receive first aid.
“The emergency services do a great job, and they were there as quickly as could be, but there was a chance to get someone there five minutes earlier and they didn’t take that opportunity.”
