The aide who called 911 for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on New Year’s Day apparently asked the ambulance to be discreet because of a request from Austin’s team to be “subtle.”
The Pentagon has been criticized in light of Austin’s secrecy over his condition and hospitalizations. In a recording of the 911 call obtained by CNN, the aide says “we’re trying to remain a little subtle.”
The dispatcher explains that ambulances typically turn off lights and sirens on residential streets. The aide requests Austin to be taken to Walter Reed on the call.
He was treated at the hospital earlier for prostate cancer and then re-admitted for complications, which the White House and national security officials didn’t know about.