911 operator dismisses boy’s plea as a prank; woman dies

[MariaCatEMT]

911 operator dismisses boy’s plea as a prank; woman dies

Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — Detroit police Friday promised a thorough investigation of an incident in which a woman was found dead after her 5-year-old son’s calls to 911 were dismissed as a prank.

Robert Turner, now 6, called 911 twice after his mother collapsed Feb. 20 in her bedroom. Family members on Friday gave the Detroit Free Press a recording of the calls.

Sherrill Turner, 46, died of complications from an enlarged heart, family members said. It was not clear at what point she died or whether she was alive when the boy made the first call.

When the boy — who was alone with his mother — first called 911, an operator asked him to bring an adult to the phone. Robert said that he couldn’t. The dispatcher hung up after saying she would send police. They did not arrive.

When Robert called back three hours later, an operator told him: “You shouldn’t be playing on the phone. Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you going to be in trouble.”


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[TTLWHKR]

I just watched that on GMA, they played the 911 tapes. What a shame, with all the BS calls, it probably screws with a dispatchers head then you get a legit call and they blow it. Hopefully the sue someones *** off, at least give the kid a comfortable life and good education. Whether or not EMS intervention would have saved her life, that's immaterial, the fact that she wasn't given a chance, even after multiple 911 calls is the problem. Sickening.

 

[Wingnut]

Sickening.

Ditto :sad:

 

[TexasMedic]

totally agree with TTLWHKR

 

[mightymom7]

As a 911 calltaker/dispatcher ..... I hope they string her up. There's no excuse for what was done.

 

[Raf]

This is why dispatchers always have to take calls seriously, even if they sound like a prank. We all know the stories of our little siblings and cousins calling 911 just to see what happens. The cops still show up though. You can never be too sure.

The biggest excuse is "they're busy with other things and couldn't be troubled with a possible prank". We all know this is BS, how much harm would it be to at least just send one police or fire unit to examine the situation? It's their job to make sure the people of their county are safe.

 

[MMiz]

I work for a private company that serves a suburb about 30 minutes north of Detroit.

Detroit EMTs and Paramedics will run non stop for an entire shift. There are always calls waiting, and I think it's safe to say that there are always emergency calls waiting. They're given 20 minutes to drop a pt off at an ER and get back into service, which in Detroit is a miracle.

As is the case in many poor urban areas, the public seems EMS as a taxi service. We say that EMT stands for "Eastern Michigan Taxi," because it's the sad truth. The may continues to cut more and more EMS jobs, and ambulances aren't always kept in working order.

Why do I say this? Because I believe the whole system is broken. I have so much respect for the EMTs and Paramedics that work in the system every day.

Where I work, it would be expected that an ambulance would be on scene within five minutes. In a worst case scenario we'd call for mutual aide and maybe have a ten minute response. Detroit has a problem getting mutual aid because the services know that the patients just can't pay. With a tiny police force that has faced major downsizing, they may not have the resources to have an officer simply go to the house and check.

This doesn't make what happened right, in fact I think it's tragic. I think we need to evaluate the situation and find the source of the problem. While the dispatcher may be at fault, I think it's really a systemic failure of the Detroit EMS system.

 

[Jon]

This is why dispatchers always have to take calls seriously, even if they sound like a prank. We all know the stories of our little siblings and cousins calling 911 just to see what happens. The cops still show up though. You can never be too sure.

The biggest excuse is "they're busy with other things and couldn't be troubled with a possible prank". We all know this is BS, how much harm would it be to at least just send one police or fire unit to examine the situation? It's their job to make sure the people of their county are safe.

Yeah... I'm sorry, but even if it IS a prank - PD still should be given the call. 9-1-1 shouldn't be able to dismiss calls.

 

[JJR512]

Where I work, it would be expected that an ambulance would be on scene within five minutes. In a worst case scenario we'd call for mutual aide and maybe have a ten minute response. Detroit has a problem getting mutual aid because the services know that the patients just can't pay. With a tiny police force that has faced major downsizing, they may not have the resources to have an officer simply go to the house and check.

Maybe the Detroit mayor could start doing transports in his *oops, I meant the city's* new Lincoln Navigators.

 

[TTLWHKR]

Detroit seems to be killing a lot of people this year...