Newly surfaced audio has captured the moment in which an aide for US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made a 911 call for an ambulance, asking first responders to be "subtle" upon their arrival to the Pentagon chief's home.
The call came in on New Year’s day, just after 7:00 p.m. local time.
“Can I ask- Can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens? We’re trying to remain a little subtle,” the defense secretary’s aide pleaded during the 911 call.
“Usually, when they turn into a residential neighborhood they’ll turn them off,” answered the 911 dispatcher, who added that the first responder is legally required to keep them on while transiting main roads.
The aide was then asked about the defense secretary’s condition, asking if he was feeling like he was going to pass out or feel as though he would, to which the aide said “no.” The secretary's assistant then asked if it would be possible to take Austin to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
US President Joe Biden was not informed of his defense secretary’s hospitalization, which remained a secret for a reported four days. It was later revealed this was not the defense secretary’s first health scare.
Austin first learned in early December that he had early-stage prostate cancer. He underwent general anesthesia for prostatectomy two days after returning from a tour of Middle Eastern capitals. According to reports, he had made plans to temporarily give his deputy Kathleen Hicks the responsibility of some of his duties.
The US’ top defense official had undergone at least two hospitalizations and surgery following a prostate cancer diagnosis, but both the White House and the Pentagon remained in the dark—even during a January 4 US airstrike on Baghdad that had been recommended by Austin the previous week. Even Hicks was unaware the defense secretary had been put in intensive care until January 4.
Biden has since admitted that Austin’s decision to conceal his health scare was a lapse in judgment, but the president expressed continued confidence in his defense chief. Some senior Republicans have called for Austin’s dismissal.
Three investigations have since been launched into the incident. Austin, who was released from the hospital on Monday and is expected to make a full recovery, said he took full responsibility and “could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed.”