A 2-year-old girl is dead after an apparent medical emergency, putting the lack of available ambulances into sharp focus.
The death of a young girl after an apparent medical emergency in Winthrop, Massachusetts, is shining a spotlight on the availability of resources for first responders.
No ambulance was available to respond to a Pleasant Street home for a child in distress, high-level sources told the NBC10 Boston Investigators Friday.
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At least 23 minutes went by between the 911 call and the 2-year-old girl's arrival at Massachusetts General Hospital. She was transported not in an ambulance, but in the back of Winthrop Fire Chief Scott Wiley's SUV.
The chief said the closest ambulance was 20 minutes away, and he could get to the hospital faster.
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Two EMTs cared for the child in the SUV on the way to the hospital.
Winthrop police logs show that a 911 call was made at 10:29 a.m., and that the child arrived at 10:52. But Massachusetts State Police said officers and firefighters responded to the home "at approximately 10," while state police troopers responded to assist around 10:30.
The child was pronounced dead at 11:19 a.m., state police said.
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The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said the evidence does not suggest foul play. State police later added that the child had an illness in recent days and was at home with her mother, according to a preliminary investigation.
An autopsy will be conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Sources told the NBC10 Boston Investigators the incident happened at the home of former Winthrop Police Lt. James Feeley, who was arrested last month on child rape charges.
Feeley remained behind bars as of Friday. It wasn't immediately clear if there was any connection between him and the toddler who died.
It was also not clear when Feeley stopped being a member of the department.
"We have severed our ties with him," Winthrop Police Chief Terence Delehanty said at a news conference Friday.
Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673, and Massachusetts provides this list of statewide and resources for sexual assault survivors.
First responders across Massachusetts have been pushing to find more paramedics and EMTs amid a wave of early retirements and people leaving for jobs in other medical fields during the COVID pandemic.
Winthrop contracts out its ambulance services. NBC10 Boston is reaching out to the company it contracts with.
Another company, Cataldo Ambulance, told NBC10 Boston it was called to Winthrop as mutual aid, but that while a vehicle was en route, the fire department canceled the call. A representative referred other questions to the Winthrop Fire Department.
