9-25-2018
BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Bellingham’s fire chief and mayor have spoken out in response to what they call an “unacceptable” and “disturbing” incident involving a deceased person at a local fire station in July.
Chief Bill Newbold says he learned in early August that personnel at Bellingham Fire Station 1 repeatedly practiced intubation on a dead person who was heading to a funeral home.
Newbold says the chief officer directing the activity in which trained professionals put a tube down a person’s throat if they can’t breathe on their own was immediately placed on administrative leave.
Through a investigation, two officers resigned, while others involved were docked pay and written up.
Mayor Kelli Linville says this “won’t happen again.”