Two EMTs accused of callously refusing to help a dying, pregnant mom during their coffee break became the target of a criminal probe by the Brooklyn DA's Office yesterday -- as the FDNY moved to fire them.
Prosecutors met to determine whether EMTs Jason Green, 32, and Melisa Jackson, 23 -- who sources said are romantically involved -- had a legal duty to aid Eutisha Rennix, 25.
The criminal investigation began as the Fire Department suspended Green and Jackson without pay for allegedly ignoring the frantic pleas of Rennix's co-workers to help her after she suffered a seizure Dec. 9 at the Au Bon Pain shop in 1 Metrotech Center in Brooklyn. That's the site of FDNY headquarters and where the pair work as dispatchers. TRAGIC: Eutisha Rennix, here with twin brother Eudane, died after collapsing in a Brooklyn cafe. TRAGIC: Eutisha Rennix, here with twin brother Eudane, died after collapsing in a Brooklyn cafe.
Rennix, who had a 3-year-old son, died at Long Island College Hospital after being transported there by a paramedic crew. Her premature baby was delivered at the hospital but died two hours later.
Sources said the FDNY wants to boot Green, a six-year veteran, and Jackson, who has four years with the department, over the debacle, a story that The Post broke Sunday.
But two are fighting back, unleashing a union rep to defend them yesterday.
"These are people that are not in the field," EMS union exec Jeff Samerson said. "They have not had patient contact in years."
Still, even Samerson had to concede, "they could have acted better."
Fire Department officials have already referred the case to the state Health Department, which could revoke the EMTs' certification.
The shocking scandal, which has infuriated Mayor Bloomberg, FDNY brass and the public, even led the union chief to call for punishment for the pair if they failed their duty.
"The entire rank-and-file is mortified by these allegations," said Pat Bahnken, president of Emergency Medical Services Union Local 2507.
Bloomberg raged at the two EMTs for a second day, saying, "There's no excuse whatsoever, as far as I can tell."
FDNY investigators have obtained a videotape from the Au Bon Pain on the day of the incident, department sources said.
Employees said they approached Green and Jackson for help for Rennix.
Shop worker Tareen Brown, 29, said the EMTs initially told workers that "if they reacted, they could get in trouble. They said they weren't allowed to touch her unless a call was made to 911 first."
His co-worker, Lourdes Colon, 19, said, "They said they couldn't do anything. They said they were trainees. They showed no sympathy at all."
Brown said that after Jackson and Green did not go to help Rennix, he went outside where there was a group of about 10 FDNY employees, and told them, "Somebody has fallen out. There's an emergency."
"They said, 'What do you want us to do? Call 911.' "
Jackson actually did call 911 from the Au Bon Pain, according to the union's Samerson.
But sources said Jackson told the dispatcher that Rennix had difficulty breathing -- despite the fact that the EMT never physically examined the stricken woman -- and left before the LICH crew arrived. Based on the information Jackson provided, the call was initially not treated as a critical emergency.
EMTs who refused to help dying pregnant mother
A furious Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted two EMTs who allegedly refused to help a dying, pregnant mom because they were on break at a Brooklyn coffee shop.
"It was unconscionable, [an] outrage, pick some adjectives and stick it in," the fuming mayor said at a news conference a day after The Post broke the scandal involving tragic mom Eutisha Revee Rennix, 25."The Fire Department, including EMS, is responsible for life-saving, and their first responsibility is to do that," the mayor said. "But even if they weren't part of the Fire Department sworn to protect all of us, just normal human beings, drop your coffee and go help somebody if they're dying. C'mon."
The two EMTs -- identified for The Post as Melisa Jackson and Jason Green -- were buying bagels in the Au Bon Pain at the Metrotech Center in Downtown Brooklyn on Dec. 9 when Rennix collapsed there -- and they allegedly ignored her.
Her toddler son has been crying, "Where's Mommy?" since her death, said her stunned and grieving family. Rennix's mother, Cynthia, angrily added that the FDNY hasn't offered one word of explanation -- or sympathy -- for the fiasco.
"It's disgusting," Cynthia Rennix said.
"We've heard nothing from the city. No one has called to apologize or explain. Her [3-year-old] son, Jahleel, senses what is going on . . . He keeps asking, 'Where's Mommy?' "
Witnesses have said the two EMTs -- trained medics working as dispatchers at FDNY headquarters at Metrotech -- were more interested in getting to their breakfast than helping the dying woman amid the panicked screams of her fellow workers.
Their cold advice: "Call 911," the witnesses said.
They then allegedly left the cafe before help arrived.
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta yesterday reiterated that the matter "is under investigation."
A union official said EMT members are not contractually entitled to a responsibility-free meal period; members on duty and in uniform have an obligation to act in an emergency, and leaving a patient is "an act of abandonment," he said.
Frantic employees who were waiting for help after calling 911 had approached the medics standing in line at around 9 a.m. and asked for help for Rennix, who was apparently suffering a seizure and struggling to breathe. The EMTs, who were not identified, allegedly blew off the workers.
At 9:13 a.m., two other EMTs, William Martinez and Robert Suarez, were dispatched from Long Island College Hospital and arrived at 9:24 a.m. to what they believed was a noncritical call.
But before they arrived, by 9:22 a.m., Rennix's condition had dramatically worsened, and 911 was again called about a critical situation -- triggering the dispatch of a FDNY paramedic crew, which arrived at 9:28 a.m.
Rennix was already in cardiac arrest.
She was rushed to LICH and declared dead at 10:17 a.m. Her baby girl was delivered and died 2 hours and 10 minutes later.
The source said that when the FDNY paramedics jumped into the chaotic scene, the LICH crew was running back to their ambulance to get a defibrillator, which they had left in the vehicle.
The family is considering suing over the debacle.
Additional reporting by Edmund DeMarche and Zoey Russo
cj.sullivan@nypost.com
A furious Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted two EMTs who allegedly refused to help a dying, pregnant mom because they were on break at a Brooklyn coffee shop.
"It was unconscionable, [an] outrage, pick some adjectives and stick it in," the fuming mayor said at a news conference a day after The Post broke the scandal involving tragic mom Eutisha Revee Rennix, 25.
"The Fire Department, including EMS, is responsible for life-saving, and their first responsibility is to do that," the mayor said. "But even if they weren't part of the Fire Department sworn to protect all of us, just normal human beings, drop your coffee and go help somebody if they're dying. C'mon." SENSELESS: Eutisha Rennix (above) died of cardiac arrest at a Brooklyn Au Bon Pain after two EMTs allegedly refused to help because they were on break. Helayne Seidman SENSELESS: Eutisha Rennix (above) died of cardiac arrest at a Brooklyn Au Bon Pain after two EMTs allegedly refused to help because they were on break.
The two EMTs -- identified for The Post as Melisa Jackson and Jason Green -- were buying bagels in the Au Bon Pain at the Metrotech Center in Downtown Brooklyn on Dec. 9 when Rennix collapsed there -- and they allegedly ignored her.
Her toddler son has been crying, "Where's Mommy?" since her death, said her stunned and grieving family. Rennix's mother, Cynthia, angrily added that the FDNY hasn't offered one word of explanation -- or sympathy -- for the fiasco.
"It's disgusting," Cynthia Rennix said.
"We've heard nothing from the city. No one has called to apologize or explain. Her [3-year-old] son, Jahleel, senses what is going on . . . He keeps asking, 'Where's Mommy?' "
Witnesses have said the two EMTs -- trained medics working as dispatchers at FDNY headquarters at Metrotech -- were more interested in getting to their breakfast than helping the dying woman amid the panicked screams of her fellow workers.
Their cold advice: "Call 911," the witnesses said.
They then allegedly left the cafe before help arrived.
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta yesterday reiterated that the matter "is under investigation."
A union official said EMT members are not contractually entitled to a responsibility-free meal period; members on duty and in uniform have an obligation to act in an emergency, and leaving a patient is "an act of abandonment," he said.
Frantic employees who were waiting for help after calling 911 had approached the medics standing in line at around 9 a.m. and asked for help for Rennix, who was apparently suffering a seizure and struggling to breathe. The EMTs, who were not identified, allegedly blew off the workers.
At 9:13 a.m., two other EMTs, William Martinez and Robert Suarez, were dispatched from Long Island College Hospital and arrived at 9:24 a.m. to what they believed was a noncritical call.
But before they arrived, by 9:22 a.m., Rennix's condition had dramatically worsened, and 911 was again called about a critical situation -- triggering the dispatch of a FDNY paramedic crew, which arrived at 9:28 a.m.
Rennix was already in cardiac arrest.
She was rushed to LICH and declared dead at 10:17 a.m. Her baby girl was delivered and died 2 hours and 10 minutes later.
The source said that when the FDNY paramedics jumped into the chaotic scene, the LICH crew was running back to their ambulance to get a defibrillator, which they had left in the vehicle.
