"While I can't predict whether he would have lived or died, I can say with certainty that my partner and I were impeded by their needless absence," Napoliello said. "Those two or three minutes that they weren't there were crucial."
According to the 911 transcript, a firetruck was requested at 11: 59 p.m. and Lucas was en route to the hospital less than a minute later.
Exact language disputed
Also in dispute is the exact language Kirchner used in referring to Lucas.
TTC Menassa said in his letter that Firefighter Robert Proctor, who was on the truck with Kirchner, told him and Napoliello that "the Captain made two comments. One being that it was a joke to use that much manpower on a nigger. The other that it was a waste to use all the medication on a nigger."
Napoliello's letter to the EEO office made similar accusations against Kirchner and said Proctor heard Kirchner refer to "a waste of personnel on this nigger."
Proctor could not be reached for comment yesterday.
In a letter to the EEO office dated Aug. 7, Kirchner said, "To the best of my recollection, the statement attributed to me by firefighter Robert Proctor was as follows: 'You know it's a damn shame, with all the money this country has, there's still no way to save people. It seems to be a waste of time and medicine for us -- that poor old [expletive]' " He denied using a racist term.
"It was not intended to be malicious, but merely as my way of dealing with a very stressful situation," Kirchner wrote. "At the time I made the statement I was angry and frustrated because of the statement by Napoliello and because of losing a patient that I thought we had made a good effort at saving."
Pub Date: 10/02/97
