An upstate EMT claims he was wrongly suspended for driving an ambulance to help a child having a seizure — but his seething bosses say he actually botched the rescue.
Stephen Sawyer, 20, claims he was disciplined by Ellenville Fire District brass because he wasn’t old enough to drive an ambulance under their departmental rules — despite saving a child in the process.
The part-time cop said he was forced to break the age restriction last month because there were no available drivers to respond to the November 20 emergency call.
But Ellenville Capt. John Gavaris said Sawyer had a driver and an EMT available to help the child — but instead sent them to a far less critical call of an elderly man who had fallen down.
“He messed up,” Gavaris told The Post. “He should have sent the driver and the EMT who were there to help the child but he didn’t. He waited to go to that call himself and that delayed transportation to it.”
Gavaris said that the 911 call for the child came in at 10:44 a.m. and the call for the fallen senior was made at 10:46 a..m.
“The call for the child came first and it was what we call a ‘critical’ call,” he said. “The other call was a ‘stable’ call. Obviously the driver and the EMT who were ready should have been sent to the first one.”
Gavaris added that Sawyer has a history of flouting departmental regulations in the past and has been disciplined for it.
The beleaguered captain said the department has a standard 21 and over rule for ambulance drivers — but that Sawyer’s operation of the vehicle had nothing to do with his suspension.
“That wasn’t the issue,” he said. “If that was all there was to this story then no one would have said a word about what he did. But it isn’t.”
Gavaris said that he’s been flooded with hate calls and e-mails since word of the controversy broke — and that his small town department has been forced to hire a PR firm to deal with the chaos.
Sawyer immediately quit the department after the Ellenville Fire District Board voted to suspend him earlier this month.
He did not respond to a request for comment.
The name of the child or his family was not released.