DeKalb County Wrongful Death Suit Settled – Lesson Learned

A settlement has been reached in the lawsuit against DeKalb County arising out of the death of Ann Bartlett. Mrs. Bartlett died on January 24, 2010 after her oxygen device sparked a fire in her home.

Bartlett called 911 to report the fire and fire trucks responded to her house, but apparently returned in service when they saw nothing visible from the street. They returned several hours later to find the house well involved.

The suit was filed by Bartlett's family against the county and five firefighters. CBS Atlanta is reporting that the settlement was for $200,000, and includes assurances that steps have been taken to prevent a reoccurrence. CBS Atlanta is also reporting that interim DeKalb County Fire Chief Eddie O'Brien has outlined 10 specific changes the department has made in the aftermath of the debacle.

The settlement releases the county and the five individual defendants from liability, but does not admit responsibility. The ten specific changes include:

1. Updating of ICS guidelines and associated training

2. Mandatory use of ICS on all incidents

3. Battalion chiefs to verify all incidents where company officers wish to cancel additional units

4. Mandatory 360 walk around of the location of a reported fire.

5. Clarification of level 1 staging.

6. Clarification on what crews should do if an address cannot be located.

7. Improvement in tracking critical factors such as Address, Call Back Number, Information on the MDT, Location of Incident, Size Up and a 360 view.

8. Education on the Automatic Number Identification and Automatic Location Identification system.

9. Review of the training required of acting officers.

10. Improvements to GIS mapping on the Mobile Data Terminal in fire apparatus

For more information, including video coverage.