Medics learn Tuesday if they keep their jobs after woman's death

TAMPA (FOX 13) - New audio recordings are shedding more light on a call for help that ended with a young mother’s death.

Crystle Galloway suffered a medical emergency a few days after giving birth by C-section, but the woman’s mother says the first responders were more concerned with cost than care.

The four Hillsborough County Fire Rescue medics involved have now been placed on leave for not following protocol, according to county officials. Next week they'll find out if they get to keep their jobs.

Nicole Black called 911 after she found her 30-year-old daughter slumped over the bathtub, unresponsive early July 4.

"She can't talk, she's drooling, her lip’s swollen," Black tells the 911 operator.

Chrystal Galloway needed help, but there was chaos and confusion. Multiple people were calling 911 from multiple phones.

"Ma’am, you’ve gotta stop hanging up on us, okay? Listen to me, we’re trying to figure out, we were given two separate addresses and two separate phone numbers. Which apartment is she located in?" the operator says.

However, once deputies and fire medics arrived, Galloway’s family says things got worse.

Black says deputies questioned her ability to pay for an ambulance and she ended up driving her daughter to the hospital herself.

"If she would have been in the ambulance she would have had a fighting chance, but she's gone and we'll never know because you didn't do your job," Black said Friday.

The crews knew before they arrived that Galloway had a C-section days before and was showing signs of a stroke.

But Hillsborough County officials say vitals were never taken and procedures weren't followed.

"If the fire medics had taken the vitals, had done the assessment, they would have concluded, as our medical director had, that this woman needed to be transported by an ambulance to the hospital," County Administrator Mike Merrill said.

Galloway slipped into a coma and died days later.

County officials were only notified after a nurse at the hospital called to complain.

"I have a patient who has a complaint about one of the crews that I would like to speak with the chief or whoever the supervisor is who I can share this feedback with," the nurse said on a message left with the county.

That phone call prompted an investigation and the four medics were suspended.

Heartbroken family members say precious time was wasted that night and the mother of three should still be alive.

"I watched my daughter grovel, in a fetal position, begging them to take her to the hospital," Black remembers.

She wants the medics to be held responsible and thinks they should be fired because they can't be trusted to do their jobs.

"This is clearly unacceptable. We can't have this happen again," Merrill said.

All four of the medics will have separate, closed-door hearings Tuesday where they will have the chance to defend their actions.

The County Administrator Mike Merrill will have the final say on any disciplinary action taken.