Nov 13 - Florida Man Dies After 911 Sends Ambulance To Wrong Address

[Deadpool1986]

A central Florida man died after a trainee 911 dispatcher sent the ambulance to the wrong address while a colleague who was supposed to be supervising was instead using her cell phone, according to officials in Volusia County, Fla.

Newly released surveillance video shows the two 911 operators on Sept. 4, the night Bob Hill of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., died of a heart attack. It took 15 minutes for ambulances to arrive on the scene because they were sent to the wrong address, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said in its report on the incident. The trip should have taken 12 minutes.

A trainee had taken the call and Shauna Justice was in charge of training him, 911 officials said. But throughout the call, Justice can be seen on the video checking her cellphone, and not paying attention to the trainee.

On the 911 tape, the caller can be heard telling dispatch the cross streets of his location, but incorrectly calls the “Nova Community Center” in Ormond Beach the “Ormond Rec Center,” according to the report.

Instead of sending an ambulance to the cross streets, the trainee sent an ambulance to an address he found using a “common location search” on their internal systems.

An internal investigation by the Volusia County emergency services cited Justice for “inattention to duties” and “loafing.” She was suspended without pay for three days.

Justice was also found in violation of using her cell phone, which is not allowed to be visible or used in the dispatch room. “You accepted full responsibly for your actions and after earnest consideration; my final decision is to suspend you from duty without pay for 3 work days,” the commission wrote in its finding.

http://abcnews.go.com/


FL

 

[ChrisDorner]

3 minutes late? Dude was probably already dead

 

[Rayzah]

arent you not supposed to have your cell phone while on duty?

 

[Ricky Church]

ayo is really good with FL tho?

Miami is my shyt, but I'm glad I moved out that muthafukka.

 

[unit321]

Well, the dude with the heart attack may not have survived even if the ambulance made it.
Side note, with my three plus years as a cop, I sometimes think, you are better off trying to drive yourself or the person in need of emergency medical services to the hospital emergency room rather than 1. call 911, 2. talk to a dispatcher, 3. have them dispatch an ambulance, and 4. wait for them to show up. Waiting involves 1. EMT or fire personnel getting themselves ready, 2. hopping into the ambulance, 3. driving through traffic, and then 4. getting on scene. All this time adds up. Your friend or loved one can die in that time. They can try to resuscitate. And, if the nearest EMT or Fire ambulance is already dispatched (say you live five minutes from a fire station or rescue squad station), the dispatcher will dispatch the next nearest ambulance. That can be like 10 plus minutes more driving time. You, the 911 caller, aren't aware of that.
Anyway, I understand that there is downtime in the call center. Hours of dead air. But, the supervising dispatcher should have put her phone down and supervised the newbie.

 

[Harry Sax]

$$$$$

 

[Mr. Somebody]

Well, the dude with the heart attack may not have survived even if the ambulance made it.
Side note, with my three plus years as a cop, I sometimes think, you are better off trying to drive yourself or the person in need of emergency medical services to the hospital emergency room rather than 1. call 911, 2. talk to a dispatcher, 3. have them dispatch an ambulance, and 4. wait for them to show up. Waiting involves 1. EMT or fire personnel getting themselves ready, 2. hopping into the ambulance, 3. driving through traffic, and then 4. getting on scene. All this time adds up. Your friend or loved one can die in that time. They can try to resuscitate. And, if the nearest EMT or Fire ambulance is already dispatched (say you live five minutes from a fire station or rescue squad station), the dispatcher will dispatch the next nearest ambulance. That can be like 10 plus minutes more driving time. You, the 911 caller, aren't aware of that.
Anyway, I understand that there is downtime in the call center. Hours of dead air. But, the supervising dispatcher should have put her phone down and supervised the newbie.

but the EMT can run redlights.

 

[unit321]

but the EMT can run redlights.

Okay. That's true. It depends on the situation and your location. But an ambulance can get stuck in traffic. Sometimes, the cars can't move even when they want to get out of the way because of traffic. You don't think about it, but if you are a cop, fire fighter or EMT and driving to a location during rush hour, you can get stuck in traffic even with your lights and siren. It's really the worst time to have an emergency.