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ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Steve Christian was 77, a veteran who, according to a letter he left behind, was suffering from cognitive memory loss. His letter said the diagnosis made him want to take his own life.

On a rain-soaked March 3, 2023, Christian shot himself in the parking lot of Brookhaven, Georgia’s Blackburn Park. While waiting on an ambulance, Christian expressed his sorrow to police officers and seemingly expressed a desire to live, according to body camera footage obtained by Atlanta News First Investigates. Crews detailed Christian asking for help, recalling the veteran said he “messed up.”

Police officers expressed their frustration and dismay over the ambulance’s delay. One officer said, “It’s going to be a gunshot wound to the lungs, second chest wound. Let’s go ahead and get an ETA. They’re going to need to step this up.” Another officer said, “This is unbelievable, man. I can’t believe this.”

After 22 minutes, a DeKalb Fire Department unit arrived, but the fire truck isn’t capable of emergency transport. Twenty-five minutes after the first officer responded, an American Medical Response ambulance finally arrived.

But Steve Christian was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Watching this entire scene play out on body camera footage is difficult for Brookhaven Police Chief Brandon Gurley. “Asking for help over and over again and the police officers on scene are rendering aid and are providing the help as best they can, [but] the help this individual [needed] was an operating room,” he said. “That help didn’t arrive in time.”

The 26-minute wait for an ambulance is more than double DeKalb County’s EMS standard of 12 minutes for life threatening calls, a standard to which AMR agreed when it signed a county contract. The current contract has been in place since 2019.

Atlanta News First Investigates analyzed Brookhaven city records from the last four years. The data is organized into quarterly ambulance response times, and shows 90 percent of AMR’s response time to life-threatening calls increased from 16 minutes in 2020 to 21 minutes this year, so far.

AMR declined a request for an interview, but sent the following statement:

“American Medical Response (AMR) values our longstanding relationship with DeKalb County and the communities we serve, including Brookhaven. We are actively engaged with DeKalb County as it invests in EMS system enhancements across the county. In addition, we remain open to working with Brookhaven on innovative solutions and approaches, as we have done successfully with other communities such as Dunwoody, which has significantly improved EMS system efficiency.

“These enhancements would build on the previous investments that AMR has already made, in collaboration with DeKalb County, in Brookhaven including an EMS hub that features state-of-the-art technology, as well as serving as a resource for community and paramedic training programs. AMR remains committed to working with our partner public safety agencies and local officials on finding equitable solutions to address any EMS system-related challenges, including any underlying issues as they relate to the March 2023 case in question. We look forward to continuing to provide the highest level of emergency medical services available to the communities that we serve.”

Brookhaven police reports show in some cases, wait times are so long officers decide to drive the victim to the hospital in their own police vehicles, which are not equipped for such tasks.

“We don’t have stretchers; we don’t have IVs,” Gurley said. “We don’t have ways to administer medication en route to hospitals; we don’t have an area big enough [in the] car.”

“We’ve gotten more impatient,” said Brookhaven Mayor John Park, who blames growing delays on DeKalb County failing to hold AMR accountable. “The lack of enforcement and the penalties are so small that it’s actually cheaper for [AMR] to pay the penalty than it is to actually provide the services,” he said.

Ambulance companies are fined if they don’t respond in timely fashion. According to AMR’s contract with DeKalb County, AMR is expected to have a 12-minute response time for 90 percent of its life-threatening calls in each quarter. But if AMR fails to meet the 90-percent threshold, its faces a $1,000 fine for each percent below.

As far back as 2020, AMR faced $2 million in DeKalb County fines. However, the company only paid $600,000, according to records.

Despite the county’s announcement to add $3.8 million to improve EMS wait times and AMR public commitment to solutions, Park said, “They say they’re doing it but it’s really just words more than anything.”

That’s why Brookhaven wants its own ambulance fleet, a move that would require the Georgia Department of Public Health to change zoning and consider other eligibility requirements. However, even if the state approved it, Brookhaven would still need fund a new ambulance company, potentially increasing taxes on residents.

But “there’s a cost burden if we don’t,” Park said, and the city has submitted the required paperwork to sever ties with AMR. The state is still reviewing Brookhaven’s petition.

Suicide prevention resources

Suicide prevention hotline at 988

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention resources

American Psychiatric Association

American Psychological Association

SAMHSA Mental Health Provider Locator

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