It happens quite frequently, according to longtime Beaumont first responder Jeffery Nesom: “They call 911 for an ambulance, but there are none to come for them.”
There’s even a term for it, Nesom shared: Level Zero – a state of being where Beaumont exists far too often for the comfort of the voting membership of the Beaumont police and fire unions, which have both recently released announcements that they are supporting new elected leadership in an effort to try to right a ship that is veering far off course.
In the pending May election, both the police and fire department unions are supporting opposition to an incumbent mayor, Robin Mouton, citing concerns for community safety.
“We are worried about the public,” Nesom said.
Level Zero
“There’s been a lot of talk lately about Level Zero,” Nesom said.
According to the certified firefighter, who also serves as president of Beaumont Professional Firefighters Local 399, Level Zero occurs when a resident calls for ambulance assistance but there are none to send. Nesom pointed to news reports that revealed COVID-enhanced ambulance response slowdowns, and thousands of calls of service that went unanswered since 2020 – as well as Beaumont Fire Chief Earl White’s retort of unfair assessment of the heightened numbers.
“He shouldn’t take the heat for COVID; COVID was a bad time.”
While it may be true that COVID-19 did put a strain on the system at the height of the pandemic, Nesom said those numbers are still being replicated even to this day.
“In the last 8-9 months, there were 1,625 calls to 911 that we did not have an ambulance available,” Nesom said. Of those calls, at least two were from sitting elected officials or their immediate family members – although Nesom declined to give identifying information.
“All we can do is say, ‘Sorry, we don’t have an ambulance available,’’ Nesom added, to which then most are left to fend for themselves. “In a lot of cases, they bring the person to the hospital on their own.”
In other cases, Nesom doesn’t know what the people do for help – or if they ever receive it.
Brothers in Blue
Civilians aren’t the only ones depending on the expertise provided by certified firefighters and EMTs and paramedics that should be staffing ambulances throughout the city on a 24/7 basis.
A week of youth gun violence amok on the streets of Beaumont further highlights how dangerous answering calls for service can be for first responders from both police and fire departments. Quite often, ambulances aren’t available to answer calls for assistance from the Beaumont Police Department, either.
“I can think of at least three different instances off-hand,” Nesom recollected of ambulance unavailability in inopportune times, including the scene of a stabbing, and the scene of a shooting. In a probable cause affidavit making it to the grand jury on one case, the officer detailed that they retrieved products from inside the victim’s home to makeshift a temporary tourniquet to get the critically injured victim to the hospital via the backseat of a patrol car.
“If one of them gets hurt, they need our services, as well,” Nesom said. “The community is definitely at risk, but our public servants are definitely at risk, too.”
Nesom said much of the problem could be rectified if the fire department could fully integrate EMS/EMT staffing under the fire umbrella, and hire under the Civil Service human resource regulations that allow for certifications to be obtained through the municipal agency. Despite attempts for first responders to have their concerns heard at City Hall, Nesom said, the staffing shortages are worsening, the community service is diminishing and the Level Zero returns are even hitting up their partners at the police department.
“There is a public safety crisis in Beaumont,” he said.
Help wanted
“We actually recently put in a policy that you have to have the chief’s approval to work more than 48 consecutive hours,” Nesom said, due to the number of firefighters getting burnt out on the job. More are approved for the overtime than want it, Nesom added.
The days aren’t easy, either. There’re too few employees; too much politics; too much tragedy and trauma.
“They answer 20 calls a shift – that’s going out on a call, take them to the hospital, out on another call, take them to the hospital…,” Nesom trailed off in a loop of despair for a human being working days on end, with no breaks, no time at home. “That’s what our call volume has come to. It’s pretty common we have some firefighters working 96 hours a week. It is absolutely not safe."
“At the end of the day, no matter where you live ... if you call for an ambulance, there may not be one to come for you,” Nesom said.
* Read the full article in this week's printed edition of The Examiner newspaper.