MILWAUKEE — An investigation by the Milwaukee Fire Department and Curtis Ambulance shared a timeline of what happened to Jolene Waldref.

On Jan. 15, Waldref was pronounced dead near a bus stop at the intersection of 76th and Congress Streets by the Milwaukee Fire Department following a series of 911 calls.

What You Need To Know

  • Jolene Waldref called 911 on Jan. 15. Curtis Ambulance explained that its team of EMTs who responded to the call circled the intersection and looked through all four bus stops, but did not see anyone in need of assistance

  • After the Curtis Ambulance left, bystanders found Waldref 22 minutes later. They then called 911 for a second time for Waldref. She was later pronounced dead at the scene

  • Following the investigation, Curtis Ambulance said there will be no disciplinary actions taken on the EMTs who responded, because they followed protocol

  • That day, the weather was one of the coldest days of year year, with windchills well below zero
 

The Milwaukee Fire Department and Curtis Ambulance shared that the initial 911 call for help was made by Waldref, 49, just before 5:30 p.m. Curtis Ambulance was sent out to respond to her call. 

Curtis Ambulance explained that its team of EMTs who responded to the call circled the intersection and looked through all four bus stops, but did not see anyone in need of assistance. They spent around five or six minutes on scene driving around before having the 911 dispatcher call Waldref back twice, without answer.

Curtis Ambulance said from there, its team was dismissed from the call.

“The EMS system here worked as designed,” Curtis Ambulance CEO Jim Baker said. “The first ambulance, which was for a low priority call, was there within four minutes. When the patient is not there, and you have looked as best as you can see, these are bad lighting conditions. You have to understand that false alarms are a common thing in the EMS system.”

Baker explained that it is very common to get calls from patients in need at bus stops who end up getting on a bus and leaving before paramedics arrive.

However, none of the paramedics got out of the ambulance to look for Waldref. Curtis Ambulance said its paramedics followed protocol and did what they were trained to do.

“It’s just unfortunate that the woman had fallen down behind the bus stop, behind the snow bank, behind these things and she was not seen," said Baker.

After the Curtis Ambulance left, bystanders found Waldref 22 minutes later. They called 911 for a second time for Waldref. That day, the weather was one of the coldest days of the season thusfar, with windchills well below zero.

That’s when the Milwaukee Fire Department responded and tried to resuscitate her before she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Following the investigation, Curtis Ambulance said there will be no disciplinary actions taken on the EMTs who responded, because they followed protocol.

“The crew did the best they could by looking for the patient. The patient was not upright; the patient was hidden by objects and was not actually at the bus station,” Baker said.

Milwaukee Fire Department said it relies on services that outside contractors such as Curtis Ambulance provide and is confident in its investigation.

“We do rely on our ambulance partners to provide a service to our city,” said Joshua Parish, Milwaukee Fire Department assistant chief. “Especially for those basic life support calls that come into our system. The reality is, it is a lot of volume and we need our ambulance partners to assist with that.” 

The Milwaukee Fire Department said it will share this information with Waldref’s family. Spectrum News has reached out to her family for a comment following this investigation, but has not yet heard back.

Related Stories