911 mishap. Dispatcher thinks it's a prank. Leads to boy's mother's death.

[The BIGSTUD]

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp 4739612

(Update: Detroit, April 7, 2006, 12:24 p.m.) An investigation is underway in Detroit after a six-year-old boy called 911 to get help for his mom, and the operator acted as if it were a joke.

Detroit NBC Affiliate WDIV reports that six-year-old Robert Turner called 911 on February 20. He thought his mother, 46-year-old Sherrill Turner, had passed out. She was later found dead.

911 tapes detail the call, where the boy tells a female operator that his mom had passed out. The operator demands to speak to an adult before sending police.

The boy eventually hung up and called back a short time later. This time, the same operator warns the boy that he could get in trouble for making a prank call to 911. The boy said police didn't arrive until three hours later and found his mother dead.

The boy is living with family members, who are now pursuing a lawsuit.

Officials said the 911 operator will be disciplined, but because of her years of service she will not be fired.

Police continue to investigate.

That dispatcher should be fined and jailed. How stupid can you be? 911 is supposed to take EVERY call seriously. If they get burned by a prank, then so be it, but if not, then it can cost someone their life. As it did in this situation.

That is awful. I can't even imagine why they'd think it was a prank. I doubt the boy was giggling.

[JTrotter Fan]

Jailed and fined?  I don't think so.  Fired?  Yes.

You have no clue unless you've sat in there and taken the calls man.  So you can't pass judgement.  I guarantee you that 95% of the people on this board couldn't hack it in a 911 call center, especially one the size of Detroit.

[phillymic2000]

Just because someone hasn't "sat in there and taken calls" we can't pass judgement? Well if thats the case you are never allowed to comment on the Eagles/Phillies/Sixers/Flyers players or management, unless of course you have taken a snap, pass, shot, draft selection, or fastball.

I could give a rats a$$ if 99% of us couldn't hack it, they need to have people do the job correctly, and she couldn't do it. Would the lady have been saved by an EMS person we will never know now.

[hbionic]

A side note to the Detroit call center is that un-like New York and few other cities across the board, they don't spend the money to train people to scan the calls to see if they are pranks or not. According to the report, trained persons can find out within 45 seconds if the calls is fake or not. (I'm sure that's an average)...but it sucks that sometimes people have to die for shtein to change. I guess that's the law of life.

[MadMarchHare]

She probably deserved it [/rjs]

[JTrotter Fan]

Just because someone hasn't "sat in there and taken calls" we can't pass judgement? Well if thats the case you are never allowed to comment on the Eagles/Phillies/Sixers/Flyers players or management, unless of course you have taken a snap, pass, shot, draft selection, or fastball.

I could give a rats a$$ if 99% of us couldn't hack it, they need to have people do the job correctly, and she couldn't do it. Would the lady have been saved by an EMS person we will never know now.

So are you telling me that you have never farged up at your job?  You never made a mistake?  You never did anything wrong?  Yeah, that's what the farg i thought moron.  I've been there...i've done that and it ain't easy.

[SunMo]

it is easy, here's the 1st rule, don't farging hang up on kids who say their mommy needs help.

[The BIGSTUD]

Just because someone hasn't "sat in there and taken calls" we can't pass judgement? Well if thats the case you are never allowed to comment on the Eagles/Phillies/Sixers/Flyers players or management, unless of course you have taken a snap, pass, shot, draft selection, or fastball.

I could give a rats a$$ if 99% of us couldn't hack it, they need to have people do the job correctly, and she couldn't do it. Would the lady have been saved by an EMS person we will never know now.

So are you telling me that you have never farged up at your job?  You never made a mistake?  You never did anything wrong?  Yeah, that's what the farg i thought moron.  I've been there...i've done that and it ain't easy.

The article says she won't be fired, which is a joke. She should resign. I would. If you cost someone their life by a mistake, it's a lot different than "farging up" at an everyday job.

[MadMarchHare]

Well, I'm sure nothing I've ever done at work directly or indirectly led to the death of another person.  So, yeah, I can condemn the bitch.

[JTrotter Fan]

You can't look at it that way.  You don't work at a job like that.  It would be like you working in a shipping department and sending one of your huge shipments to the wrong place.  You don't even know if she would've lived had the medics gotten there.  So you can't really say.  Yes, i agree she should be shtein canned.  And the family will sue the city, i'm sure.  But the woman won't have to pay a dime because she is covered by the city. 

[PhillyPhreak54]

What happened to the protocol of the police responding to 911 calls even if the caller says there is no problem or it is a hangup?

A friend of mine is a cop up here and he said they responded to one where the caller tried to say it was a mistake and they found her husband holding her and the kids hostage. And another friend told me that her department requires a response to every 911 call to be sure.

And what is crazy about this Detroit thing is the kid hung up and called back and got the same bitch! What are the odds of that happening? Less than me calling a customer service line and getting someone fluent in the English language, thats fo sho.

That lady needs to be fired. And the city deserves to pay out the ass in a lawsuit because their 911 people are shtein.

[Wingspan]

You can't look at it that way.  You don't work at a job like that.  It would be like you working in a shipping department and sending one of your huge shipments to the wrong place.  You don't even know if she would've lived had the medics gotten there.  So you can't really say.  Yes, i agree she should be shtein canned.  And the family will sue the city, i'm sure.  But the woman won't have to pay a dime because she is covered by the city. 

you can always re ship the items.

you can't answer the phone now and save the womans life.

the person farged up big time. the kid called twice. and there was no response. it's not the job to tell if the kid was joking, thats for the police once they get there

[JTrotter Fan]

What happened to the protocol of the police responding to 911 calls even if the caller says there is no problem or it is a hangup?

A friend of mine is a cop up here and he said they responded to one where the caller tried to say it was a mistake and they found her husband holding her and the kids hostage. And another friend told me that her department requires a response to every 911 call to be sure.

And what is crazy about this Detroit thing is the kid hung up and called back and got the same bitch! What are the odds of that happening? Less than me calling a customer service line and getting someone fluent in the English language, thats fo sho.

That lady needs to be fired. And the city deserves to pay out the ass in a lawsuit because their 911 people are shtein.

It's the discretion of the calltaker whether or not they think it's real or a prank.  Obviously, that woman made a mistake that cost a life.  However, her losing her job is enough.  If the family wants to sue the city, so be it. 

[Geowhizzer]

That's my take, too, Wingspan.

I always thought that 911 HAD to send emergency to a call, and let them decide whether or not the call was legit.

Charges can be brought against someone that abuses the system, but someone can't be brought back to life.

The woman should no longer have that job.

[JTrotter Fan]

I never liked the fact that our department allowed the 9-1-1 calltaker to have the discretion on whether or not PD should go to a call.  If someone calls, even if it's by accident, a unit should still respond.