Detroit 911 Refuses to Send Help, Woman Dies

[mfc2257 464]

This is unbelievable... Why didn't the dispatcher simply send a RMP and a Bus to the house. If the cops arrived and there was no body in distress, send the EMS crew to their next job and scold the kid.... Two calls, no response, one person dead. Not good.

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4739612

Edited April 7, 2006 by mfc2257

[IzzyEng4 427]

Years of Service won't get her fired????????!!!!!!!! If that was me I would be out of there with my years of service. BULL!

[irishfire2491 24]

why bother teaching kids how to use 911 and its meaning if they are going to be taking as joke. and why did it take police 3 hours to go to the house??? I believe a police officer should have been dispatch if the operater thought it was a joke and see what the probelem is. Theres was no reason for not getting help out to the family. ANd the quoteOfficials said the 911 operator will be disciplined, but because of her years of service she will not be fired.

She should be fired on the spot for not doing her job and letting a person die because she felt it was a joke.

[fireboy 6]

I dont understand why they would not send help. I feel that the dispatcher should be fired

[ajsbear 11]

Some lawyer will contact the family and file suit just like happened in the Playland case. It will be publisized then it will go away quietly as it will be settled and nothihng will happen.

[IzzyEng4 427]

Some lawyer will contact the family and file suit just like happened in the Playland case. It will be publisized then it will go away quietly as it will be settled and nothihng will happen.

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AJS, sad but how true.

[Guest tfd193]

Was it also Detroit where the EMS pronounced someone only to realize later she was still alive.

[roeems87 0]

just to clarify... the child didn't die at playland because of someone's negligence...

Again, this woman should definitely lose her job. If I were in her shoes (not like I would ever do something like that), I would quit. I wouldn't be able to handle more 911 calls knowing the way I handled one resulted in someone dead.

One thing to note: The outcome may not have been different based on what she did. Perhaps the autopsy, investigation, or something showed mom was down for 8-10 hours or something along those lines. So what the dispatcher did may not have resulted in the death of the woman.

Edited April 8, 2006 by roeems87

[CAM502 6]

She should be fired and brought up on charges. She thought it was a prank...where do they hire these people?!?

Ajsbear, what were you refering to in the playland case??

[JBE 328]

Somebody, regardless of age, says they need help, you send it. There are very few grey areas.(Like a kid saying a fire is in Yorktown and they're calling from Yonkers) And when they say disciplined, she will take a BIG hit in the wallet. I would venture to say 30-60 days pay. This may be a pretty bold presumption on my part, but she's probably been around so long, read, jaded, that a kid calling 911 and saying someone is dead or unconcious and thinking it's a prank is not too far of a stretch. I would want to listen to the tape before totally passing judgement. However, right off the bat, this girl should lose her job, or be forced to retire.

[Guest paramedico987]

what a sack of crap! It doesn't sound like this kid gave her any reason to even think that he was screwing around. Even if he was making a prank call that can ONLY be determined by someone who responds to the scene.

The call taker/dispatcher (whatever capacity they were) aught to be out on their a$$ or in jail.

[Guest]

what a sack of crap!  It doesn't sound like this kid gave her any reason to even think that he was screwing around.  Even if he was making a prank call that can ONLY be determined by someone who responds to the scene.

The call taker/dispatcher (whatever capacity they were) aught to be out on their a$$ or in jail.

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I just saw a news conference held by Goeff Feiger. He has initiated lawsuits against the dispatcher and others. The City of Detroit is immune from lawsuits of this type and I am not sure if that includes the Police Dept. Lawsuits can only by initiated against individuals. He states that he has heard the tape and states that the City has acknowledged its existance.

In case you don't remember Mr. Feiger, He was the lawyer who kept Doctor Death (Jack K) out of jail on charges of assiting suicides.

[Guest]

Suit filed over boy's ignored 911 call

Dispatcher scolded child, then 5, for playing on the phone

(CNN) -- A wrongful death lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of a 6-year-old Michigan boy whose mother died after he called 911 only to be scolded by an emergency operator for playing on the phone.

Attorney Geoffrey Fieger said the family of Sherrill Lynn Turner, Robert Turner's mother, is seeking $1 million in damages from the city of Detroit.

The suit names two unidentified dispatchers. Fieger said the city is not named directly as a defendant because cities are immune from suit in Michigan but are liable for the conduct of their employees.

Fieger said Sherrill Turner would have survived if help had been sent immediately

Robert Turner, who was 5 at the time, called 911 on February 20 and reported that his mother, who had an enlarged heart, had collapsed.

The boy told CNN he tried to shake her and called 911 for help when he couldn't wake her.

He quoted a dispatcher as telling him, "Stop playing on the phone." The child called back three hours later, but it was hours after that before anyone came to his home, said Fieger.

In a written statement, the city of Detroit asked that no one rush to judgment and promised to take disciplinary action if warranted.

At a news conference announcing the filing of the suit, Fieger said Robert Turner's case is not the only one.

He played another 911 tape from January 12, 2005, in which a woman who had been shot in the head by her husband called 911.

On the tape, the operator can be heard asking the woman if she has a mental problem and then asking that the husband who shot the woman be put on the phone. Rescuers did not come until a third call was placed by the woman's son, who lives out of state.

The woman in that case, said Fieger, lived but is paralyzed. He said the second case "indicates to the city that they have a problem that needs to be addressed."

[trauma74 111]

I work as a dispatcher and if I received a call and thought it was BS, I would at least send a police officer to the location to check on the situation.

[RWC130 594]

Absolutly NO EXCUSE for what happened as Trauma74

mentioned at least send a Police Officer to check.

I hope she faces some serious charges!

I see some new SOP's in that agency coming out.

Very sad...

[Plectron 1]

Where I work there are big signs on the wall that say:

*Take the call

*Dispatch the proper service (Police; Fire; Ambulance)

*Document

*Notification to a supervisr when appropriate

I have to send a car to everything, regardless of how minor or rediculous it may be.

[JBE 328]

I have to send a car to everything, regardless of how minor or rediculous it may be.

I can understand the "When in doubt, start em out" Philosophy. But, can you justify sending units out when you know it's complete and total BS?? Example, kid calling from one place, incident is 10 miles away and the child says they see it?? I'm not even talking about fires. I guess what I am getting at is a lot of the time it is a judgement call. You just have to know when to use the proper judgement.