WASHINGTON — A baby died in Southeast D.C. on Thursday, and the emergency response is under investigation.
A call came in to 911 about a child having problems on Hillside Road in Southeast at about 3 p.m. Thursday, NBC Washington reports.
The baby, a 5-month-old named Trequan, had asthma and had lived in a very hot apartment, a woman who identified herself as the baby’s aunt told NBC Washington.
D.C. Fire and EMS says in a statement that within two minutes, the Office of Unified Communications, which handles the calls, sent a fire truck with a paramedic aboard — the nearest ambulance was seven miles away, and when OUC called Prince George’s County for an ambulance, none was available.
The firefighters got to the home within four minutes. Without an ambulance available, they then took the baby to Children’s National Medical Center. They were met on the way by a D.C. ambulance within 15 minutes of the 911 call, which took the baby the rest of the way.
The infant died at the hospital.
Fire officials are investigating the length of the response, NBC Washington reports, and D.C. police and child welfare officials are calling the case an undetermined death investigation.
