Child Dies After EMS Responds To Wrong Address

[mikeinet 37]

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=7288641

http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/ny-boy-dies-after-ambulance-goes-to-wrong-address-1.1772075

http://www.1010wins.com/Boy-Dies-after-EMS-Sent-to-B-klyn-Instead-of-Manha/6399256

Another sad story...

A shocking 911 mixup may have resulted in the death of 6-year-old boy Thursday, and now authorities are investigating what went wrong.

EMS workers were sent to what they thought was the boy's address at 277 Avenue C in Brooklyn. After arriving at the home at 9:10 a.m., dispatchers soon realized they were at the wrong address. The victim lived at 277 Avenue C in Manhattan.

Edited February 22, 2010 by Chris192
Link to story repaired. Additional links added

[x635 4,066]

Who dispatches FDNY*EMS nowadays and from where?

[Rescue97 6]

FDNY*EMS is dispatched by its own Emergency Medical Dispatchers who are EMT's out of Metrotec in Brooklyn.

[FiftyOnePride 100]

FDNY*EMS is dispatched by its own Emergency Medical Dispatchers who are EMT's out of Metrotec in Brooklyn.

Do those EMT's rotate out of the dispatch center on tours in the city? Just curious.

[NJMedic 96]

If the call did come in via 9-1-1 does NYC have ANI/ALI? In our dispatch center we always verify the address.

[20y2 43]

If the call did come in via 9-1-1 does NYC have ANI/ALI? In our dispatch center we always verify the address.

The ALI showed it in Manhattan, it had a 212 number. The call taker mistakenly hit Brooklyn for the borough, apparently the caller was hysterical and could not give cross streets the first time...

[IzzyEng4 427]

This is very sad but this does happen accidentally many times.

[PFDRes47cue 653]

Very sad to hear. One of those things that can happen any call. Condolences to the family.

[x635 4,066]

Thanks for the info regarding dispatch. I may be a little out of it-when did they move from Maspeth? And are the EMT's in title only??

Also, this quote from 1010WINS...can anyone clarify?

Al Hagen, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, blames the city's new "Unified Call Taker" system.

"Most medical calls are urgent and immediate and it takes a different set of skills," Hagen told WCBS-TV.

The FDNY is disputing the union's claim and says the UCT does not apply to EMS calls.

The department spokesman did not say who handled the call.

Sad story, sad for the family and the dispatcher, could happen to anyone anywhere.

[JBE 328]

EMS moved out of Maspeth close to 10 years ago. This wasn't a UCT mistake, as they don't do EMD. This was an NYPD 911 call taker mistake. Unfortunately, this happens a lot more often than you think. It's just that there was a fatality involved, which makes it newsworthy. The FDNY Fire Alarm Dispatcher called EMS to confirm when the Engine company was sent to the wrong address in Brooklyn. We then turned out an Engine to the correct address in Manhattan. Unfortunately, it was too late to help that kid.

I remember about 10 years ago, sending Engine 16 to East 25th Street and Park Avenue South for an unconcious on the platform. Not too far of a stretch, because there is a 6 train stop on the subway at 23rd Street. Turns out, it was on the Metro North at 125th Street and Park Avenue. 5 plus miles away. I got a call reporting a fire on the IRT Subway at 61st Street and Roosevelt Drive in Manhattan. The 911 operator actually became indignant when I said there was no such thing. Turned out to be 61st Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. This is a problem that has been going on for years. The question is, how do we fix it?? They've got ANI ALI and mapping. How else can we improve a system that is obviously flawed??

Edited February 23, 2010 by JBE

[goon16 155]

i rememeber seeing that bloomscums daughter has some involvment in the UCT. She works for the company or something? Just anyway he is trying to take over the whole city....truly a sad story

[Guest Loud412]

This happens more often than you might think. I cant count the number of times that i have been sent to a job at one location only to find out that it is actualy in Brooklyn or Queens. I would have to imagine that a majority of the time the error comes from the ARD at 911 either being in a rush or just lazy. Especialy with regards to queen brooklyn and manhattan there are a lot of numbered street that exist and cross eachother in all three boros. And unless the person specifies which one or the ANI/ALI actualy get the right info it could be tough for the ARD to determine which one it is. Another potential problem is people that use VOIP for their phone system. The information that the ARD sees on their computer may be incorect. And cell phones can only give the ARD to location of the cell tower that the caller hit when they placed the call. There have been many casses of somone calling from either the Nassau/Queens border or the Bronx/Wetchester boorder that didnt get conected to the correct 911 call center because their phone hit a tower that was not in the county they were calling from. The whole system is far from perfect, and potential problems may not even be known about until they actualy happen.