I just woke up, so I’m not my usual chipper self yet, but I notice on Yahoo’s start page a story about a college student in Wisconsin, Brittany Zimmermann (aged 21), who was murdered. Not all that unusual, really, as many people are murdered every day. However, apparently she had dialed 911, and for whatever reason, the dispatcher hung up, and failed to notify anyone that something might be going on.
The Dane County Public Safety Communications Director, Joseph Norwick, was quoted as saying “I don’t think there’s anything to apologize for at this time.”
Really? One of your dispatchers hung up on a caller, who was subsequently found dead. That dispatcher failed to follow your department’s policy of notifying the authorities. Nothing to apologize for? I think Joseph Norwick now owes the public an apology, for not thinking something such as this is a big deal. Makes me wonder how many other 911 calls across the country are ignored.
You know, it might not be a big deal, if the public wasn’t expected to call 911 in an emergency. If people were not instructed to dial 911 when there’s a fire, an altercation, a burglary, a hit-and-run accident, then maybe this situation would not have been a big deal. But that is not the case. We are required to dial 911 when something like this happens.
Ok, here’s a thought. When someone calls 911 dispatch, with an emergency, and they don’t get through, that’s a technical error, I understand. But, when someone does get through, and the dispatcher handling that call hangs up on them, subsequently failing to alert authorities that there may be a situation, that is negligence. In a life or death situation, such negligence can get people killed. Maybe handling this call differently might not have led to the woman’s survival. Or, maybe being there in a timely manner could have led to a life saved. 911 is supposed to be about saving lives. If you have a problem with following the rules, you should not be working for 911 service. Joseph Norwick should be fired, in my opinion. Someone died here, and to suggest a mere “policy change”, strikes me as complicity in that death. Fire the dispatcher, see to it that all your remaining and future dispatchers understand the importance of their jobs, and then we’ll talk. Two things that clearly do not ever belong in emergency services.. a) people who don’t follow instructions, and b) supervisors who don’t appear to grasp the enormity of the damage when people in this job don’t follow instructions.
I can’t say this story makes me consider not dialing 911 in the event of an emergency, but I can say, under normal circumstances, my first words in a crisis to the dispatcher might be “there’s a (fill in the blank) here.” Now, I suggest your first words need to be “Don’t hang up!” Can’t have the dispatcher confused as to the seriousness of the emergency call, can we?
Fairness taken into consideration, it is possible the woman was incapacitated or otherwise, during the call. I’d certainly like to believe she wasn’t crying for help while the dispatcher terminated the call. But, surely 911 services would train dispatchers what should be done if a caller cannot speak. Ignorance is no excuse when something like this happens.
