911 operator convicted

[jack10562 414]

Family relieved after 911 operator convicted

Verdict is first against emergency dispatcher for willful neglect of duty.

Darren A. Nichols and Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Five-year-old Robert Turner just did what his mother told him to do.

With a heart condition, Sherill Turner told him to call 911 if she was in trouble. He did, but operators refused to listen. Now, the series of misunderstandings -- or deliberate neglect -- over calls after she collapsed Feb. 20, 2006, has left him without a mother and may put a 911 operator in jail.

The three-year operator, who was fired in March, faces a year in jail during sentencing March 11 for the misdemeanor.

Story: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...90357&imw=Y

[IzzyEng4 427]

A classic example of negligence. Just remember what you say on a 911 is recorded. Never judge. This is just punishment for blaitent negligence.

[CAM502 6]

When in doubt....SEND THEM OUT!!!! You gotta be 100% positive to "ignore" a call. (ie: call for smoke from a building and off duty member calls at same time to say it is a dryer vent on his neighbor's house...)

[ldrco195 17]

About 10 Years ago our comm center recieved a call that had an extreme language barrier.

The dispatcher was only able to tell that they might want fire & ambulance from the call.

So he sent the first due company (engine - truck - ems) and police.

I was the officer on the first arriving engine and immediately requested the 2nd alarm for fire thru the roof of a hindu temple. Made for a long night.

I have to give our dispatchers credit. They send fire trucks to calls that fire trucks need to be on, they never send the police first to "CHECK IT OUT" without sending us. They will put our call out first on the radio before they put it out on the police radio.

[spin_the_wheel 460]

Time and time again you hear these stories.....you can never get in trouble if you send someone to check it out, but you will always get in trouble if you dont and the s^%$ hits the fan. Its like a game of hot potato..never get left holding the potato!!!

[BFD1054 1,552]

Agreed, you can never be too safe when dispatching.

Not to tell a war story....ok i guess i am lol. When i was a dispatcher trainee at WCPD, i took a call of question. I was working tele-type, not even near the emergency lines. I was doing work on the computer, tele-type and answering non-emergency calls. I received a call from a frantic woman, who happened to have a strong Spanish accent. The woman was saying something abut being stuck on her garage door and that she was in Port Chester. I first looked around the room to ensure it wasnt my co-workers screwing with me...it wasnt and my Training Officer gave me a look and was like "what do ya got?" I started telling the woman to calm down and to speak slowly so i could understand her. At the same time, i was jotting down all the info i could get. As i spoke to the woman, i advised my T.O. to start out PCPD to the address. Short story long, it turned out that she was a tiny woman and when she opened her garage door (electric), her coat strings became entangled in the door and actually lifted her off the ground! She was able to retrieve her cell phone from her pocket and somehow reached us.

A PCPD Lieutenant called us back a short while later and confirmed it. He couldnt believe that i was able to stay calm and get all the info that i did. I told him i didnt know what to think of it, so i took it as a serious call. He said his patrol units rolled up and sure enough, there she was hanging upside-down from the garage door!

The guys that oversaw all the I.T. stuff for the Commo Unit always said they wanted to put together a "Best Of" WCPD Communications tape and that one would have definately made it lol.

Just goes to show, you never know what you're gonna get or hear in the world of Emergency Services. You must take all calls as if they are serious and then put the info together to determine how serious it truly is.

Edited February 13, 2008 by BFD1054

[ny10570 745]

More bad press for 911 CRO's http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=...&id=5957267

[JBE 328]

Oops...that's not good. But, at least they sent someone.