TAMPA, Fla. — She thought the paramedics were there to help her, but Nicole Black says they didn't help at all and she blames them for her daughter's death.
Beginning this morning, four Hillsborough County fire rescue workers will get the chance to share their side of the story during scheduled pre-disciplinary hearings.
Lt. John "Mike" Morris, fire medics Justin Sweeney and Andrew Martin, and Acting Lt. Cortney Barton were placed on paid administrative leave following the July 4 incident involving Black and her 30-year-old daughter, Crystle Galloway.
Galloway died days later.
Black claims the medics didn't send her daughter in an ambulance because they insisted she couldn't afford it. But the paramedics say it's Black who insisted she drive her daughter to the hospital herself.
With a lot of details like that in dispute, each of the four county employees involved will get to respond to the allegations against them and give any additional details during Tuesday's hearings to ensure investigators have as much information as possible before making a final decision.
What's not in dispute is what led to medics being called in the first place.
Galloway was found passed out in the bathroom during the early morning hours of July 4. She had just given birth days before through C-section and wasn't feeling well, according to Black, who called 911.
But when medics showed up, Black claims they ignored her daughter's pleas to be taken to the hospital and told her she couldn't afford the $600, three-block ambulance ride.
"She died three days before her birthday and seven days after giving birth," Black previously told 10News reporter Shannon Valladolid.
"Hillsborough County you took from him [Galloway's newborn son]. You took from me and you took from him. You made a judgment call. You were so wrong."
Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill admitted afterward the medics failed to take Galloway's vitals and properly document the call.
"If the fire medics had taken the vitals, they would have concluded that this woman needed to be transported by EMS to the hospital," Merrill told reporters during a press conference last week.
"We did, in fact, fail to provide good care to this woman."
In addition, even if Black had insisted on driving her daughter herself as the medics claim, Merrill said the fire medics would have needed an informed consent, which they failed to get.
"This is an incident where somebody just didn't care, they disrespected us so badly," Black told 10News. "Why would I call you to take my child because she's sick and you not take her?"
The first of the four hearings scheduled Tuesday will begin at 9 a.m. at the Hillsborough County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd.
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