A 911 caller is looking for an ambulance Lloyd Austin On Jan. 1, he discreetly asked a dispatcher for first responders to arrive at the scene before escorting the defense secretary to a location. military hospital.
“Can’t an ambulance show up with lights and sirens? We’re trying to be a little subtle,” said the caller, whose identity has been redacted, according to an audio recording obtained by NBC News through a Virginia Freedom of Information request. An ambulance was dispatched to a single-family home on Austin Street.
Details of the 911 audio file were first reported by the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications. The Daily Beast.
Austin was hospitalized on New Year’s Day with complications from prostate cancer treatment, but the Pentagon waited. three days Reporting to the White House. Austin, Virginia, was released Monday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, where he will work from home as he recovers, he said in a statement this week.
The 911 recording partially redacted information about Austin’s medical condition and the defense secretary’s chief complaint. The audio recording includes unedited responses to the dispatcher’s questions about the defense secretary’s condition.
Austin had no chest pains and felt like he was going to pass out based on the caller’s answers. The caller also said Austin was alert and not vomiting blood or having blood in his stool. One of the dispatcher’s questions was edited.
The caller also asked if it was possible for an ambulance to take Austin to Walter Reed in Bethesda. The dispatcher asked the caller to notify medics upon arrival.
Austin faced hard criticism for not immediately informing the White House of his hospitalization. He later said he took full responsibility and “could do a better job of making sure the public is properly informed.”
“I promise to do better,” he added in a January 6 statement.
The inspector general of the Pentagon said so started viewing The Republican-led House Armed Services Committee launched a formal investigation into the matter.
Caryn Littler contributed.