Albuquerque Fire Department dispatcher’s license suspended
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – An Albuquerque Fire Department dispatcher who hung up on a 911 caller trying to help a teenage shooting victim has had his emergency medical dispatch license suspended.
New Mexico Department of Health investigators are looking into the actions of Matthew Sanchez and will present the information to the EMS licensing committee.
Sanchez will have a hearing before the commission, which can decide to revoke his license.
A recording made public this week revealed that Sanchez hung up on 17-year-old Esperanza Quintero, who was seeking help for a friend shot in June.
Police said 17-year-old Jaydon Chavez-Silver later died.
Sanchez had sent an ambulance before hanging up and it arrived within minutes. He resigned Tuesday.
The department will start giving crisis intervention training to all firefighters and dispatchers next week.