I look, and I see that this incident occurred on February 20. Yet it’s getting national coverage now. Why? Only because the family is suing apparently. Wasn’t it important enough to report when it happened?
A 5-year-old boy called 911 to report that his mother had collapsed in their apartment, but an operator told him he should not be playing on the phone, and she died before help arrived.
The family of Sherrill Turner, 46, does not know whether a swifter response could have saved her life, but relatives want to know why the operator apparently treated the call as if it were a prank.
Police said the 911 response was under investigation.
Turner’s son, Robert, placed two calls to 911 after his mother collapsed Feb. 20 on the kitchen floor. During one of the calls, an operator said: “You shouldn’t be playing on the phone.”
In a tape of the call, parts of which were broadcast by Detroit-area television stations, the operator said: “Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you gonna be in trouble.”
People complain about lawsuits, but let’s face it, until someone files one, often nobody wants to listen. That said, we need more info. Details are sketchy.
The first may be that one in a million call that went wrong. Twice in one night with separate operators though, means there is a systemic problem.
Interesting observation, Mr. Fusion. My first impression was that both calls went to the same operator. After re-reading the article I see that may not be the case.
This sort of thing happens more than people think.
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/040606/met_76266.shtml
Thursday, April 06, 2006 ANDERSON, S.C. – Anderson County Sheriff David Crenshaw has apologized after his deputies did not respond to a 911 call from a stabbing victim who often called dispatchers without an emergency.
The investigation into why the deputies ignored Anna Clifton’s early Monday emergency call continues. But Sheriff Crenshaw left no doubt his agency is to blame.
“It looks like we dropped the ball on it,” he said Tuesday. “I apologize to her and her family publicly.”
Paramedics rushed to Ms. Clifton’s house after she called 911. But dispatchers told them to wait outside until deputies arrived to make sure the scene was safe, said Medshore Ambulance Service CEO Greg Shore, who also is Anderson County’s coroner.
When no officer arrived in 10 minutes, the paramedics were told deputies thought it was a psychiatric call and if they wanted to check it out, they could go inside themselves, Mr. Shore said.
Inside was Ms. Clifton in a pool of blood. She had been stabbed in the chest eight times and had a collapsed lung, Mr. Shore said.
Sheriff’s dispatchers were on a first-name basis with Ms. Clifton, who calls frequently and has psychiatric problems, Sheriff Crenshaw said.
Two different operators, and the first one had one HECK of an attitude. I heard the call (they played it on CANADIAN news!) and the little boy was quite polite and he sounded calm. The boy did not sound upset…he just kept repeating the same thing. The kid had the speech pattern and dialect traces that one would assign to that of a **black** kid (which he is).
The dispatcher didn’t ask anything….just started to give the kid crap. The dispatcher tone was sharp and snappy. Grumpy . Her speech was clipped and she had that extreme nasal tone which is usually identified with “lower middle-class white woman”. (Think RoseAnne Barr) Her tone was just RUDE.
I’d say poor training, lack of supervision, ignorant dispatchers, and maybe some basic racial insensitivity and perhaps a big splash of LAZY is at play here.
The fact it only made the news NOW, leads me to believe that this isn’t uncommon, just business as usual.
About 2 weeks ago, I was travelling north on I-75 near the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit when a waste hauling truck travelling in front of me hit a bump, releasing small pieces of concrete onto the freeway. Several pieces hit my car, damaging my windshield. I was able to get a description of the truck and its license plate, which I wrote down. The next morning, I called the Michigan State Police to report the incident and was told that there was nothing that could be done at now. I was told that I should have called 911 and the nearest State Police cruiser would have been dispatched to chase down this truck. I protested, stating that this was an inappropriate use of 911, since this situation was not life threatening or personally harmful by any stretch of the imagination. I added I considered this was an abuse of the 911 system and was told that I was wrong. The Michigan State Police would not assist me in tracking down the owner of this truck because I did not call 911.
Then I read in this morning’s Detroit Free Press about the tragedy of this boy and his mother and the irresponsible and criminally negligent behavior of the 911 system in Detroit. It seems to me that this is a systemic problem caused by the management of the system. Clearly, those in charge are providing improper leadership and guidance to the 911 operators. The management must be investigated and held criminally responsible for failing to run the system properly.
Myself, I will never call 911 because some concrete debris hits my car, certainly not when 911 can’t even help legitimate callers such as this boy.
Mike D, I 100% agree with the police here, you should have called 911!
If a chunk of concrete in the middle of the road isn’t life threatening, I don’t know what is! Hit that doing 60mph and who knows what could happen.
Ross, I understand where you are coming from, but I have to go with Mike on this one. 911 is not supposed to be the Police, or Fire, or Ambulance telephone line. Its purpose is to direct emergency personnel to an immediate emergency where a life is in danger. Tyeing up the 911 switchboard with mundane calls only makes the true emergencies wait for help or even get a busy signal.
Lyrics: “911 is a Joke” (Public Enemy)
Hit me
Going going gone
Now I dialed 911 a long time ago
Don’t you see how late they’re reactin’
They only come and they come when they wanna
So get the morgue embalm the goner
They don’t care ’cause they stay paid anyway
They teach ya like an ace they can’t be betrayed
I know you stumble with no use people
If your life is on the line then you’re dead today
Late comings with the late comin’ stretcher
That’s a body bag in disguise y’all betcha
I call ’em body snatchers quick they come to fetch ya?
With an autopsy ambulance just to dissect ya
They are the kings ’cause they swing amputation
Lose your arms, your legs to them it’s compilation
I can prove it to you watch the rotation
It all adds up to a funky situation
So get up get, get get down
911 is a joke in yo town
Get up, get, get, get down
Late 911 wears the late crown
That 911 operator should be fired .
Please deny her servance pay and unemployment benefits
There should be criminal and negligent charges filed against
this incompetent, ignorrant, rude white dispatcher.
Susan
Maui, HI
Susan, you are angry about the death. You have reached a level of sophistication where you manifest your anger in strong, but UNvulgar, words.
Nothing in Detroit seems to run smoothly. People die all the time in the city due to neglegence of the disorganization of the city itself and it’s workers.
-Former Detroiter.
What makes it even sadder, is that that children are taught to call 911 in an emergency. With the blatant ignoring of the call by the operator it seems to say that children should not be taught this. I mean when you do something right and you get “in trouble” for doing it, why do it right?
The operators are obviously not meant for this type of work and common sense says they need to find a job more suitable to their personalities.
I believe that there are some serious issues with the way that E911 works. It seems to me that the issue stems from the management and supervision, not just the individual operators. Not too long ago I was working for a company that takes customer care calls for a well renowned cell phone company. While I was in their employment, one of my colleagues told me about a call they took. The cell phone customer worked as an operator for E911. The worst part of it all is that the customer was at work at the time they called customer care! In fact, they seemed more interested in getting the number of minutes they used that month then they did about the E911 calls they were taking. During the call, the E911 operator had multiple emergency calls come in, and they put the E911 calls on hold so they could talk to my colleague about their cell phone bill. My colleague, who was not able to hang up, suggested several times that the E911 operator should hang up and call about the phone bill at a more convenient time, but the E911 operator insisted that it was OK, and refused to hang up. Where was the supervisor? Why was this tolerated? Unfortunately, from what I see in the new now days, I fear that this is not an isolated event.