PSD discloses results of initial investigations into death of infant in Zarqa

AMMAN — An investigation committee formed on Saturday to look into the allegations of a citizen regarding negligence and the delay of an ambulance that he called for his daughter in Zarqa Governorate has completed its initial findings, the media spokesperson for the Public Security Directorate (PSD) said on Saturday.

The man had claimed that the alleged delay led to the infant’s death, the Jordan News Agency, Petra,  reported. 

The investigation’s results revealed that a call was made to 911 at exactly 9:55am on Friday from a citizen requesting an ambulance for his sick daughter and asking that the ambulance not come to the house but rather to a certain checkpoint.

The caller arrived at a security checkpoint, where immediately upon his arrival, he started a live broadcast on a social media platform. During his broadcast, the ambulance arrived 11 minutes after the call and immediately transported the girl to the hospital within a total time of 17 minutes from receiving the call to the child’s arrival at the hospital, the PSD said.

It was proven through investigations and witness testimonies that personnel at the security checkpoint “did not prevent him from going to the hospital” but rather asked him to do so and offered to accompany him. However, the man refused and insisted on waiting for the ambulance and started broadcasting on the social media site, the spokesperson said.

The doctor on duty at the hospital’s emergency department confirmed that the child arrived at the hospital between 10:10am and 10:12am, adding that she was found dead upon arrival, which was confirmed in hospital records and medical reports, the spokesperson said.

According to the child's father, the infant had died before arriving at the security checkpoint. He said that “his agitation and grief over her passing were the reason behind everything he said during the video”.

The investigation committee concluded that, according to the technically proven data, witness testimonies, medical records, contact times and videos that were referenced, including the video of the child's father, it was decided to submit the investigative documents to the concerned public prosecutor to follow up on the investigations, the PSD said. 

This was after it became evident to the investigation committee that all the procedures that were followed were “correct and within normal response rates”, and that there was “no negligence”.

The PSD expressed condolences to the child’s family and said that it “sought the truth by all available means” to find out what happened.

The PSD added that its conclusions came after verifying and confirming the course of events and their timing, stressing that it will send all the evidence and data to the concerned public prosecutor to verify them, Petra reported.