NYPost: Chief dies as mix-up stalls EMTs

[INIT915 1,119]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/address_mess_VtLGrLpuCbrgl2TmRVAwsM

A beloved former Hamptons fire chief died from a heart attack after emergency crews responded to the wrong house because of a bizarre address mix-up.

Sherri Ross frantically but clearly told a 911 dispatcher to send crews to 419 Montauk Highway in Wainscott on Nov. 14 after her husband, Lanny, started experiencing chest pains and gasping for breath.

But an unidentified male dispatcher mistakenly sent ambulances to 419 Montauk Highway in East Hampton, more than five miles away from where Sherri Ross had placed the panicked call.

In an odd quirk, there are four 419 Montauk Highways in East Hampton Town -- one each in Amagansett, East Hampton, Wainscott and Montauk.

Interestingly enough, a similar incident here in Westchester a couple years back for anyone who remembers it. A structure fire in Buchanan on Albany Post Road. At the time, Croton, Montrose, Buchanan, Peekskill, and Garrison, all had similar numbers along their respective stretches of Albany Post Road, and the FD was initially dispatched to the wrong one.

[miami222 62]

In Continental Village we have an intersection of Sprout Brook Road with a cross street of Old Albany Post Road at two different locations, at two different ends of our district. We have one in the northern part of our district in Putnam County and one in the southern Part Of our district in Westchester County where Highland avenue comes out of Peekskill and turns into Old Albany Post road for a stratch both of which intersect Sprout Brook road. We have had numerous instances over the years where we were simply dispatched a call on Sprout Brook Road in the area of Old Albany Post Road and we went to the wrong location because no numeric was given. One of which was a Rollover requiring extrication. It has become less of a problem now that we are dispatched for Westchester Calls by 60 Control and Putnam Calls by Putnam 911. We now know which way to start heading based on the County that dispatched us but there is still the potential for a cell call to bounce of the wrong tower and we are heaing in the wrong direction.

[ny10570 745]

It happens all over. Pleasantville has two intersections of Manville and Bedford Rd and NYC has hundreds of duplicate addresses and intersections. This is why things like Automatic Number Identification and Automatic Location Identification are so important and just another reason for consolidated dispatch centers equipped with such technology.

[JBE 328]

This is truly unfortunate, and not at all uncommon. ANI ALI is a big help. I just hope the dispatcher will be able to live with himself after this.

[Guest jcnyc]

ANI ALI on a cell phone is good for? And on a VOIP phone?

[cas2383 22]

That kind of thing seems like it can happen anywhere, take Westchester Ave for example on how many towns it goes thru, now imagine you are not from the area and don't know the difference... unfortunate situation indeed.

[RocklandFires 44]

ANI ALI on a cell phone is good for? And on a VOIP phone?

ANI ALI on cell isn't as good as a landline phone naturally but better then nothing.

Cellular should give you the callers phone #, wireless carrier, whether it is a Wireless Phase 1 or Phase 2 call, the address of cell tower the phone call is hitting off, the Latitude & Longitude of the caller.

VOIP is a whole other mess. NEVER trust VOIP information. Those damn Magic Jacks are the DEVIL ! People register them one place and then take them elsewhere and when they dial 9-1-1, they still get the local police where they registered the phone. It happens quite often !

[spin_the_wheel 460]

Again I'm not trying to Monday morning this thing, as stated above it happens all over. We learn from these things.... asking for cross streets is very important, even if you think you know the location, there may be 3 or 4 of the same address, but I doubt they will have the same cross streets. Also don't hang up the phone until you have the right address in front of you. I have seen where a dispatcher hangs up the phone then enters into a computer and gets 4 hits of a similar address...oh oh, if you did not ask the correct questions, you may run into a problem, like trying to call the caller back and having it go to voice mail. If you bring this info up with the caller still on the phone, you can try and get better info for the correct hit.

But, if a dispatcher "picks" the wrong choice of the 4, thinking he picked the right one and sends it on its way, there is no way of knowing of the mistake until its to late....or if he/she is lucky they can hear the units being dispatched, if they are not doing the radio as well, and realize.... "wait that's not the town/address I thought I picked" and can correct it right away.

Never underestimate the concentration level demanded and needed for a dispatcher. Unfortunately mistakes happen, there is no way to prevent this from happening, every so often.

Edited November 30, 2010 by spin_the_wheel

[JBE 328]

Like Brian said, ANI ALI can be advantageous, and at times better than nothing. Spin brings up a good point. I thought about that today as I was driving home, and heard the tape of the call. The lady can clearly be heard saying 419 Montauk Highway, and the town she's in. I wonder if the CAD that is being used on the Island has that feature, where it pops up multiple choices.

We have that here for a number of spots, Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, or in Breezy Point, West 9th Street in Red Hook, or Coney Island. There's a Broadway in each borough, so we ask as part of our interrogation, "what borough are you in?" before we even take an address.

The news also reported the wife screamed "You killed my husband!!!" My heart truly goes out to that dispatcher.

[ny10570 745]

JBE, you're slipping, there's a Hillside Av in Manhattan too. RocklandFires, nailed the benefit to cell phone ANI/ALI. That cell tower location is a huge plus. Especially with car accidents. Just because you're at the sign for the NYC exit doesn't mean you're anywhere near NYC. Also lets not forget that a dispatcher is only only as good as the info they are provided. In this case the caller had the right info, but often people simply do not know where they are or even where they live.

[JBE 328]

Night tours will do that to a guy. I still think the whole situation stinks.

[spin_the_wheel 460]

The village is now making upgrades to the 911, cad system......gee is that all it took a tragedy like this. I'd bet the changes being made now, have been sugested by the dispatchers working the system day after day in the past. As is the case many times the suggestions fall on deaf ears and disregarded for various reasons. Then something lke this happens and all of a sudden the money is found, or the past suggestions are now deemed worthy, and it gets done. Damn shame.