Steven Gifford's firing came a day after the Fire Department terminated dispatcher Teresa Burrows, who officials said made similarly inappropriate comments during the same call.

The dispatchers' exchange was recorded on tape as Gifford made a 911 call to the Fire Department seeking medical assistance on Oct. 19 for Nicholas Brown, 24, who died of cocaine toxicity about five hours after being shot twice by police using a stun gun. "In these circumstances, we find this type of behavior to be insensitive, disturbing and inconsistent with the type of conduct we expect from our employees," police Chief Keith Mello said in a prepared statement on Gifford's dismissal. "It is important to understand that while the conduct of these dispatchers is unacceptable, in no way did it contribute to the death of Nicholas Brown or impact the level of response by emergency personnel."

The conversation between Gifford and Burrows, which lasted less than a minute, included references to Brown suffering hallucinations and other symptoms from swallowing what Gifford incorrectly assumed was "heroin."

Burrows notes during the conversation that Brown "should have double bagged it or something," according to a transcript of the call released Wednesday by the Police Department.

Police called paramedics to headquarters after an officer doing a routine cellblock check noticed that Brown appeared ill and was sweating profusely. Brown had a seizure after being placed in an ambulance and suffered a cardiac arrest while being transported to the hospital, police said.

Fire officials said the call was received about 9:19 p.m. and an ambulance was dispatched at 9:21 p.m. to police headquarters where Brown was being held. He was pronounced dead at Milford Hospital at 10:21 p.m.

Lori Brown, the mother of the dead man, was distraught after reviewing a transcript of the call Thursday.

In an interview, she also questioned why police didn't call paramedics earlier if they were aware that her son had ingested drugs.

"If they took him to the hospital when they arrested him, he would be alive today," Brown said. "It's disgusting that the cops would take their jobs so lightly. I'm happy the dispatchers got fired. This isn't over yet."

Officer Vaughan Dumas, a spokesman for the Police Department, said Gifford was only assuming that Brown had ingested heroin when he mentioned the illegal drug in his exchange with Burrows.

Toxicology reports show that Brown had more than 16 milligrams per liter of cocaine in his system, while no heroin was found.

"At no time did [Brown] indicate that he ingested anything other than marijuana," Dumas said.

Police said Brown had pulled something from his pocket during his arrest last month and ingested it. When questioned, Brown said he swallowed a "roach," a term often used for partially smoked marijuana cigarettes.

The incident began when police investigated a report of a man sleeping in his car in the parking lot of a Rowe Avenue hotel, from which he recently had been evicted. Daniel Hunsberger, an attorney with the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut who represents Burrows, said his client is distraught over the incident.

"She loved her job and enjoyed helping the public," Hunsberger said. "She didn't mean for the comments to be public and regrets the embarrassment to the city."

He added that the comments made by the dispatchers are similar to comments likely made by emergency personnel throughout the country every day.

"In a high-stress situation things are said that others may not appreciate," he said. "Does it warrant some discipline? Yes. Does it warrant the termination of two decent employees? No."

Neither Gifford nor Burrows could be reached for comment.