reposted from January 9, 2008
For those who have already read this, please, forgive my repeating the story. I've written several time lines for several different people. I can't remember who knows what. And, so, I'm writing as much as I can down here. So, that it's clear and if anyone wants to dispute any of it, they can. What I'm about to write is part what we experienced and part of what I got out of the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office Internal Affairs report. No part of my timeline has come from the newspapers because as we learned from them erroneously printing about Denise being at the post office, newspapers can be wrong. I'll try to be as objective as possible and not let anger seep through.
Here goes:
The last time Nathan talked to Denise was just shortly after 11AM. His last words to her were "I love you".
Nate was working for the Florida Power and Light Company as a meter reader. His days started early by leaving the house so early it was still dark out. Denise and the boys would still be sleeping. Noah had just turned two years old. Adam was 6 months old and still being breast fed.
They had been over Mark's and my house the evening before. We had dinner together. After dinner Mark and Nate worked at the dining room table going over Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover" book. They were working on a budget. Nathan had been working evenings as well as for FPL. He worked at Winn Dixie stocking shelves whenever he could. He played trumpet in the evenings for the Venice Symphony when they had concerts. He played every Christmas at our church. During the summer he would umpire Little League games for $50 a game. So, Denise didn't get out much. She stayed home with the boys.
Because she was quiet and shy or maybe just because she loved Nathan so much, she rarely went out without him. That and the two babies were and still are a handful for one person to lug around. She wrote a beautiful passage on her myspace the previous August about going to the mall and trying to purchase sunglasses. You'll have to check out her and Nate's family myspace page. www.myspace.com/leefamilyndn It's speaks of what kind of a mother she was. Her babies always came first.
Here's the story I'm talking about quoted from myspace:
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The joy of having two boys...
Today I thought it might be fun to take the boys to the mall... by myself. It started off really well. Noah and I ate lunch in the food court while Adam slept. I let Noah go on one of those rides that cost 75 cents. Then we went to Old Navy. Noah started getting a little hyper and wouldn't stay with me so I had to hold him and push the stroller at the same time. At the check out both of them started crying. Adam was hungry so we went back out to the car where I fed Adam ('cause he's breastfeeding) and Noah played in the car rolling the window down. Finally we went back in the mall and I let Noah play in the play area so I could get a chance to just sit. Noah was knocked down twice by older boys running around wild. Of course then Adam needed changing and I couldn't take my eyes off of Noah or else he'd run out of the play area. So I put them both on the changing table and changed both their diapers. Fun fun. Then we went to JCPenny. I was trying on sunglasses when Noah tried to run away. So I had to carry Noah while trying on sunglasses and then Nathan called. Both of the boys start crying once again so I put Noah down and picked up Adam. Noah thought it would be funny to try to run away again. So i caught him while holding Adam and put Noah in the stroller. An old man commented that I must have my hands full and said he checked in the bottom basket of the stroller to make sure I didn't have a third one in there. LOL, can you imagin if I had three? So I finally bought my sunglasses and we went home. Something so simple as going to the mall to buy new sunglasses is a thousand times harder when you have two boys under two. But it was still fun. Anytime I get to leave the house is a treat for me.
We also have a few new pics of the boys. I made a new album of Noah and Adam and there's a couple new ones in Adam's album. Check 'em out.
Denise
As far as I know she didn't leave the house that day. Nate says she gave Noah a haircut out on the lanai. And when he got home around 3:30PM her clothes were laid out as if she was getting ready to take a shower. She had probably just laid the babies down for naps. When Nate arrived home he found both babies in the same crib. That was odd. Noah's voice was hoarse. All Denise's belongings were still there, cellphone, purse, keys etc... But no Denise. The windows were shut but not latched. Nathan and she had spoken earlier about opening the windows to save on air conditioning bills. January in Florida is one of the best times weather wise in Florida. And living so close to the coast we have some wonderful breezes. So, the windows being closed without the air on was also odd. It was stuffy. Searching frantically for Denise, Nathan called Sue (Denise's mom) first to see if she knew anything. Of course, she didn't and he immediately called 9-1-1 to report Denise missing. Then he called Rick and Rick went into action.
Normally in a missing adult case, they wait to start searching. There's usually a credible explanation as to why the person is not there or the person has left willingly. Rick and Nate both stressed, of course, that this wasn't the case. That there was just no way Denise would leave her kids. So, I believe, in deference to Rick, the North Port Police Department took this more seriously than they probably would normally have. (that's just opinion on my part). Rick works for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office and has for the past 25 years. It had to be terribly frustrating for him to watch the neighboring agency handle the case. But Nate and Denise lived in North Port which is in Sarasota County. So North Port had jurisdiction.
I have already written in an earlier blog how Mark called me and my mad rush to get out to the house. I was at work and my phone was turned off so I was missing calls. Finally Mark called on the store phone. Sue had already picked up the babies. So, I stayed with Nate. You could see Rick's frustration with the NPPD. You could see NPPD 's frustration with Rick. In a word? It was heartbreaking. Nathan was a suspect. A helicopter was overhead. It was getting dark. The thoughts that run through your head. We all knew (our family knew) that there was no way Denise would leave willingly. It was just impossible. Doubts enter but they are quickly brushed aside. Because we knew her. And, she worshiped the ground Nathan walked on and those babies were her life. Nathan I believe, wanted me to leave to help Sue with the boys but I wouldn't. I kept my distance and didn't want to be in the way. But, I so wanted to be there for my baby. I can't describe the pain and agony on Nathan's face. On Rick's face. It's damn difficult watching your son's world fall apart.
Sometime around 4:20PM (I'm estimating times because I don't have the report in front of me. If I'm way off, I'll correct later but I've got this stuff pretty well memorized. I live it over and over again) NPPD requested a K-9 from the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office. This is the first time the CCSO 9-1-1 center became aware that Rick Goff's daughter is missing and that the children may have been involved.
At 3:30PM the CCSO had sent it's Teletype operator home early as to save paying overtime. At 4:59PM the first BOLO (Be On the Look Out) is broadcast over the Teletype from North Port mentioning a green Camaro, a description of the suspect and Denise. They give her name, age, haircolor etc... The next door neighbor had seen a green Camaro cruising up and down their road and then parked in Nathan and Denise's driveway.
Now since the Teletype operator went home the dispatchers were to monitor the Teletype every 5 or 10 minutes. Sadly, this BOLO was ignored.
At 5:38PM the CCSO says they issued their own BOLO but oddly, it's not in the CAD system which would have notified the deputies in the field immediately on their computers. The CCSO deputies were all over the place along the Sarasota County/Charlotte County border. But they don't know what they are looking for and they are frustrated they don't have any leads. Again, they never saw this BOLO and testified to that. Also, this BOLO isn't listed on a pass on log the call takers and dispatchers read when coming on duty. It lists what's going on, BOLOs etc... after reading it the on coming squad initials it. I have a copy of it. There is no BOLO listed as being sent out at 5:38PM by CCSO. (Oddly the summary of the I/A report says it was sent out at 5:31PM just one of many discrepancies in the summary). So, what do we have here? Deputies unaware and the dispatchers being unaware that Denise could be in a green Camaro. 2 other BOLOs sent across the Teletype are also ignored from North Port. One at 5:58PM and one at 6:46PM. So, IMO, there's no way that Teletype was being monitored. Now is this the dispatchers fault? I don't know who's fault it is. But obviously the time between 3:30PM and 6:45PM were critical for Denise.
Interestingly a call taker (Millie Stepp) testified she knew about the green Camaro but only because she heard about it over a Sarasota County radio. The supervisor of the 9-1-1 had been busy patching radios through to North Port. This takes close to an hour to do.
Okay, so deputies from the CCSO and Rick out at the house aren't aware of the green Camaro lead (maybe Rick is but he's assuming the Teletype is being monitored and the information is getting out). He's pacing and begging for information.
Then Sabrina Muxlow's 9-1-1 call comes into Sarasota County and she describes what her father told her. This is around 6:00Pm. She says her dad saw her cousin with a girl tied up in the backseat of the car and that the girl screamed "call the cops!" You'd think this guy would call the cops but no...... It's his cousin. And instead he lends him a flashlight, a gascan and a shovel. And 20 minutes later instead of calling the cops, he calls his daughter.
hmmm... deep breath here.
Then something truly miraculous happens. At 6:14PM the Sarasota County 9-1-1 center received a call from Denise herself. She has somehow managed to get the suspects cell phone and call 9-1-1. Sweet brave smart girl. She dupes him into thinking she's talking to him all the while giving information to the call taker. She indeed confirms that she's been taken against her will and that she's in a green Camaro. Her call lasts 7 minutes. Until it's abruptly ended with Michael King looking for his phone.
Now things at the house are starting to happen. Rick and CCSO Sgt Floyd Davis listen to Denise's frantic call. Rick confirms it's indeed her. My heart breaks for him thinking of his having to listen to it. But he heard her fighting and he must have been damn proud of her. Her call ends around 6:22PM and Floyd Davis calls the CCSO dispatch and requests a BOLO to be sent out immediately to look for a green Camaro. Finally, at 6:36PM the CCSO dispatch issues it's first documented BOLO telling their deputies (who have been waiting for this) to look for a green Camaro. All along for the past hour and a half they could've been looking for it but didn't know to.
At 6:30PM Jane Kowalski is watching Denise's hand pound the back window of the dark Camaro and hears her screaming bloody murder. She calls 9-1-1 but because she's crossed the county line she reaches the CCSO 9-1-1 center. It is the only 9-1-1 call in reference to Denise that the CCSO 9-1-1 center receives. The call lasts 9 minutes but no car is ever dispatched to the location Jane has described. Jane waits to hear from the CCSO but never does.
The 9-1-1 supervisor testifies "she didn't really know what was going on".
We at the house, are unaware of this call. Jane not only sees Denise's hand and makes eye contact with Michael King, she gives the CCSO call taker cross streets. On the 9-1-1 tape you hear the call taker is rattled, not in control, asking for direction from a supervisor and completely at sea as to what to do. Instead of entering information in the CAD immediately the way she was trained to do, so the deputies can see the information in their cars on their computers, she writes it down on a piece of paper and yells it across the room.
At the same time, Sgt Davis is on the phone with one of the dispatchers requesting the BOLO I mentioned earlier. The dispatcher tells him a little about the call Millie is in the process of taking. She asks Sgt Davis if the Camaro is blue. Sgt Davis says no, he believes it's green but tells her to call the NPPD to confirm. She never does. I don't know why not. It was not asked in the report. She also fails to mention to Sgt Davis that there's another person in the car in re to the phone call Millie's taking. He testifies "if she had, things would have turned out way different".
Also, at the same time the new shift comes on duty. They all initial a pass on log listing the incidents that are occuring or have occured. Updating them as to what is going on. Sadly, none of the 3 BOLOs North Port issued over the Teletype are listed. Neither is the supposed BOLO the CCSO sent out at 5:38PM. They testify that all they knew going in was that Rick Goff's daughter was taken, that maybe children were involved and that K-9 was requested. It was never asked in the report what the on coming supervisor knew or was told considering the other supervisor "didn't know what was going on" because she says "she was patching radios".
I can't tell you what is going on with Denise at this time. I don't honestly know. I assume she's on her way to her final destination. She had been torn away from her children, taken to the suspect's home, brutally raped and terrorized but still kept enough presence of mind to snatch his phone, call 9-1-1 and in a last ditch effort, take off her precious heart ring Nathan had given to her so that he could later identify it. She saved her kids and handed the prosecution their case on a silver platter.
What a hero.
Another BOLO is issued by North Port over the Teletype sometime around 7. From Denise's 9-1-1 call to Sarasota County they glean information on Michael King, where he lives, etc.... That information along with the tag number is in the this BOLO.
Oddly, the CCSO doesn't respond to this BOLO until 8:15PM when they finally issue their own BOLO. The first mention in the CAD system about looking for a Camaro is at 7:02PM and it says gray. I figure Denise is gone by then.
At 9:15PM or therabouts, a CCSO patrol car spots the Camaro and it's Eddie Pope, with the FHP, that stops it and arrests King. There is no Denise.
I don't know what time the search was called off that night. I had Noah spending the night. And kept him the next day while hundreds of people met to search for Denise. Many from FPL are turned away. Mark described to me walking hand in hand with others and being given little red flags to place where they may spot a clue. The searchers search at the end of Salford Blvd because that's where Michael King suggests they look. They still know nothing of Kowalski's call to the CCSO 9-1-1 center telling them he was last seen with Denise in the car turning east on Toledo Blade. They are at the same time searching a small area on Toledo Blade not far from where they arrested King. The CCSO's silence in this matter is unconscionable in my opinion.
I imagine if they would have known about Kowalski's call maybe the bigger search effort would have been along Toledo Blade and not Salford. I imagine her not having to spend an extra day and a half in that shallow grave, naked and exposed to the Florida elements longer than she had to. Or us suffering that day and half agonizing over what happened to her for longer than we had to. The only thing that could possibly account for this silence is cover up. And if it wasn't cover up, it was gross negligence.
There was negligence in how they handled the BOLO's and the Teletype as well. Maybe the thought of possibly losing their Teletype machine for not monitoring it appropriately and being caught silenced them. I don't know. But they knew.
When they called off the search early Saturday afternoon we assumed they had found her but we still don't know where or how or in what condition. There is still a glimmer of hope she's still alive. Shattered but alive. But, no, we're officially informed it was her around 4PM.
deep breath here
She was shot in the head.
I really can't go on. There were several other tragic errors the CCSO made that night. The piece of paper the call taker had written on had been handed to one of the dispatchers who didn't believe her radio was working. But according to the CAD it is the entire time and she's on it. Millie testifies she yelled the info to Dispatcher A but Dispatcher A and Dispatcher B testify she yelled it to Dispatcher B. The supervisor testifies she didn't know what was going on. It was very shoddy work indeed.
We don't find out about Kowalski's call until the day of the viewing. That would be the following Tuesday. We're numb already and for me it didn't sink in right away. The only reason we ever found out about her call was because she persisted in calling the North Port Police wanting to help. They didn't know who she was. Finally they figured it out on Saturday the day Denise was found and had to "request" information from the CCSO. The CCSO wasn't going to give it to them.
Jane Kowalski's interview with the North Port Police Department. They are still not sure who she is.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090117/VIDEO01/901160374&profile=2414&template=video
We find out more from the I/A report but it takes reading it 3 times to figure it out. It's that convoluted and there are so many errors in the summary.
Then we find out that the woman leading the investigation was actually working as Director of Communications. She had been promoted to Internal Affairs just before but because Sherman Robinson was on vacation, she filled in for him.
We also find out that the CCSO treated Jane Kowalski with derision and disdain. They blamed her for giving them erroneous information. She said blue Camaro and said it was a child. They never even followed her up with a phone call.
Sweet sweet Denise. I'm trying my hardest baby to get the bigger, more important story out. I'm sure people are sick of reading about it, but I don't know what else to do. Somehow we must make people aware of what's going on at the CCSO. I just don't know how else to do it.
I really need to write next about all the good things that followed. All the people who came out in droves for your funeral. All the fundraisers. All the hugs and prayers. The on-line community (a piano forum) that raised $16K for the boys education. How everyone's hearts broke and are still breaking everytime your story is played on DateLine or PrimeTime. Of how our families have bonded and we're doing out bests for Nate, Noah and Adam. There have been thousands more angels than villains in this piece. You have your own tree now. And your own classroom! You may get a playground. So many people now look at you as a hero. I'll always remember you put those babies first. In the Catholic church I believe you would be considered a martyr and a saint. Your last thought of Nate and his ring. How your heart must have broke.
Showing posts with label 9-1-1 tragedies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 9-1-1 tragedies. Show all posts
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
A tragedy in Tulsa, Oklahoma
A true tragedy. Be prepared because this is disturbing. The website says:
Warning: This is a tape of a 911 call from Kimberlyn Rae Kendrick to dispatchers in Pryor before she drowned in her car May 2. This tape may contain material that is disturbing to some listeners.
The Tulsa World requested the tape of the 911 call from Kendrick as part of its duty to inform readers about how well their government is working, said Executive Editor Joe Worley.
"We believe it is important for citizens to understand how well their emergency operations systems are responding. This case provides insight into that system and hopefully will bring discussion about possible ways to improve it.''
http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2009/drowning_911/drowning_911_play.aspx
What took so long???????? TEN MINUTES!!!! Well, IMO, and I'm no 9-1-1 expert but I have learned this much, we need to be able to locate cell phones!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Rep Mike Reynolds (R) Oklahoma, wants to cut back 9-1-1 funding?????
After ten minutes the fire department is still asking "which road?" God above.
Why are we not using GPS technology in cell phones and 9-1-1 centers? That's the tragedy here. The fire department and 9-1-1 center were doing, IMO, their best. It's the funding and not using technology that's available.
This woman was on the phone for 10 minutes. If we were using GPS technology in all cell phones and 9-1-1 centers she'd be alive today. And so would Denise. I was told I would cry when I listened to this but all it does is make me angry but my heart is breaking. I'm crying on the inside. I feel as if I'm bleeding on the inside.
She could have been saved.
Warning: This is a tape of a 911 call from Kimberlyn Rae Kendrick to dispatchers in Pryor before she drowned in her car May 2. This tape may contain material that is disturbing to some listeners.
The Tulsa World requested the tape of the 911 call from Kendrick as part of its duty to inform readers about how well their government is working, said Executive Editor Joe Worley.
"We believe it is important for citizens to understand how well their emergency operations systems are responding. This case provides insight into that system and hopefully will bring discussion about possible ways to improve it.''
http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2009/drowning_911/drowning_911_play.aspx
What took so long???????? TEN MINUTES!!!! Well, IMO, and I'm no 9-1-1 expert but I have learned this much, we need to be able to locate cell phones!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Rep Mike Reynolds (R) Oklahoma, wants to cut back 9-1-1 funding?????
After ten minutes the fire department is still asking "which road?" God above.
Why are we not using GPS technology in cell phones and 9-1-1 centers? That's the tragedy here. The fire department and 9-1-1 center were doing, IMO, their best. It's the funding and not using technology that's available.
This woman was on the phone for 10 minutes. If we were using GPS technology in all cell phones and 9-1-1 centers she'd be alive today. And so would Denise. I was told I would cry when I listened to this but all it does is make me angry but my heart is breaking. I'm crying on the inside. I feel as if I'm bleeding on the inside.
She could have been saved.
Friday, May 15, 2009
I hate to have to do this but.......
it's been asked and I guess it's something I need to do. That is, go over once again what we believe went wrong in the CCSO 9-1-1 center the night Denise died.
There were 5 9-1-1 calls made the night Denise died. The first from Nathan reporting her missing. This one was handled fine. One by an eyewitness's daughter. This was handled very well with the call taker thanking the young woman and telling her "we're looking for this girl". The third by an eyewitness. We won't go there about the witness but we will say the call was handled appropriately. The fourth? Made by Denise herself! This one was handled exceptionally well. You can hear the call taker multi tasking and professional sounding as she's calling North Port to make them aware of the call. She's not rattled at all. All four were handled by Sarasota County or North Port call centers.
The fifth call handled by the CCSO was where things went wrong. Here's what we believe happened according to their own internal investigation.
There were 5 9-1-1 calls made the night Denise died. The first from Nathan reporting her missing. This one was handled fine. One by an eyewitness's daughter. This was handled very well with the call taker thanking the young woman and telling her "we're looking for this girl". The third by an eyewitness. We won't go there about the witness but we will say the call was handled appropriately. The fourth? Made by Denise herself! This one was handled exceptionally well. You can hear the call taker multi tasking and professional sounding as she's calling North Port to make them aware of the call. She's not rattled at all. All four were handled by Sarasota County or North Port call centers.
The fifth call handled by the CCSO was where things went wrong. Here's what we believe happened according to their own internal investigation.
- Because the operator who monitors the BOLO's (Be On the Look Out's) went home early (to save paying overtime) the machine basically went unmonitored (in our opinion) and 3 critical BOLO's were either totally ignored or responded to late. The two dispatchers on duty were supposed to monitor the machine every 5-10 minutes and one testifies she did so. Sadly, there is no documentation supporting this. And the deputies in the field received no information on 3 of the BOLO's. So, from the time the first BOLO received from the North Port Police department at 4:58PM to after 6:30PM deputies from the CCSO testify they were NOT looking for a green Camaro. As late as 6:45PM one deputy testifies there were "no real leads". So we have Sarasota County, North Port, the FHP, the FDLE, Manatee County, DeSoto County and countless other agencies searching for a green Camaro but not the CCSO which is where she was last seen alive.
- It took the CCSO near 2 hours to patch a radio to neighboring Sarasota County
- At 6:30 an eyewitness to Denise's kidnapping called in and had the call taker on the line for 9 minutes giving cross streets as to where she was witnessing the abduction in real time. The call taker was clearly rattled. She put the caller on hold. She told the caller people are "hollering" at her. She clearly didn't know what to do. She kept asking somebody for instructions. The call taker did not enter crucial 9-1-1 call information immediately into her CAD system. She wrote it down and shouted it across the aisle. She testifies she shouted it to dispatcher A. Dispatcher A and B testify she shouted it to Dispatcher B. It was over 13 minutes after the initiation of the call before she entered anything into the CAD. Those 13 minutes IMO were pretty crucial minutes.
- Total chaos. Total procedural breakdown.
- After the crucial 9-1-1 call I just mentioned, no car was ever dispatched to the area. There were several CCSO cars in the area with deputies who testify they were sitting by their computers WAITING for information that never came. They were never dispatched
- The CCSO never contacted North Port who had jurisdiction in Denise's case about the phone call which was made by the last person to see Denise alive. They would have denied the prosecution their best witness. Thank goodness the witness was persistant in being heard.
- It wasn't until after Rick (Denise's dad) and another officer from CCSO listened to Denise's frantic 9-1-1 call that the CCSO was aware of a green Camaro. It is only after Denise's frantic call that a call is made to the dispatch center by the officer who was with Rick that the dispatch center realizes they had issues and missed the BOLO's. It was at that moment the sh!t hit the fan and they forgot to dispatch the car.
Again this is in their own Internal Investigations Report.
What's been fixed?
The only thing I'm sure of and this information is from Sarasota County is that the two counties are now working closer together.
The radios seem to be fixed. I learned this from the newspaper after a false alarm abduction a few weeks ago.
Is the call taker no longer writing things down and is she finally using the CAD appropriately? I don't know. She'd been reprimanded before. Hopefully considering a life was lost she is.
Is the machine that monitors the BOLO's being monitored 24/7? Don't know.
Sorry to sound so cold. I'm at work and I really don't want to break down in tears.
That's it in a nutshell. Sorry to have to go through it all again. But someone asked me to.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
More news on David Iredale
No opinion today. I can't find words but I wanted to share the latest news story. It encouraging that people have apologized, have been humbled and are eager to seek change so that such a tragedy will never happen to another person and devastate another family.
Sadly, IMO, it probably will happen. As long as we are not using the technology available today to detect where cell phones are when they dial 9-1-1, people will always be lost on hiking trails, in snow storms, in canals (as that lady was in Florida), in trunks (Jennifer Johnson) etc.....
I hope they address that problem too. There will always be human error but we should be doing what we can to minimize it.
Also call takers and dispatchers should be "Certified" and held to certain standards.
Take in the apology at the end. If ONLY the CCSO would have done that in the beginning....
Much love and peace to the family. It must be difficult for them to be thrust in the news again.
Link: http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20090508/AS.Australia.Forest.Tragedy/
Lost teen's emergency calls prove futile
By ROHAN SULLIVAN, AP
Seven times, teenage hiker David Iredale used his cell phone to call Australia's equivalent of 911, pleading for rescue after he became lost in tough scrubland and ran out of water in 100-degree (37 C) heat.
Each time he got through, he was told he needed to give a street address before an ambulance could be sent. Shortly after the final call, Ireland collapsed and died of thirst.
An inquiry into the 2006 death of the 17-year-old exposed deep flaws in the country's emergency response system, including what a coroner called an astonishing lack of empathy by the operators who took his increasingly desperate calls for help.
Officials in New South Wales state on Friday acknowledged the system's failure and promised to overhaul it. Iredale's father said preventing similar tragedies in the future would be a legacy his son deserved.
A wilderness enthusiast and member of Sydney Grammar School's rowing team, Iredale set off with two classmates on a summer vacation camping trek in the Blue Mountains, a picturesque but notoriously harsh landscape of eucalyptus-shrouded peaks and gorges 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of Sydney.
It was supposed to take three days and earn the boys points toward the Duke of Edinburgh Award, an international program to promote leadership and good character.
They were well-prepared with camping gear, maps and plenty of food. The two less experienced hikers carried water in plastic bottles, while Iredale had a 4-pint (two-liter) hiker's water bag strapped to his back.
According to testimony to the coroner's inquiry from the two survivors, the hikers' water ran dry on the first day as temperatures rose to 100 F (37 C) and they slurped it down while marching across rocky terrain and tree-lined trails. After camping for the night, they pressed on toward a river they expected to reach within a few hours on the second day.
Iredale, fitter and more experienced, kept darting ahead of his colleagues and waiting for them to catch him up, they told the inquiry. When they eventually reached the river Iredale was not there.
How Iredale became lost is not clear. But when he did, he turned to what many would consider a modern-day lifeline: his cell phone.
In audio records of his calls to "000" — Australia's version of the 911 emergency line — Iredale tells ambulance officials he has lost the trail and is surrounded by "the bush."
Dialing from deep in a gorge, Iredale's connection kept dropping out, ambulance officers told coroner Carl Milovanovich, who began his inquiry last month.
Iredale's first call to triple-0 was put through to police and quickly cut out, though not before he was able to convey that he was stuck near a peak called Mount Solitary — information that eventually helped triggered a search.
Over the next hour or so, he called triple-0 six more times. Once the call was diverted to a recorded message. Five times he was connected to the New South Wales state Ambulance Service.
Milovanovich's 35-page report released Thursday recounts the calls, and Iredale's rising anguish as time and again operators "interrogated" him about a street name that could be entered into the service's computer. He could only name the walking trail and Katoomba, the town where the trio began their trek.
On the third call, an obviously distressed Iredale tells operator Laura Meade: "I'm lost. I need water. I haven't had water for a long period of time."
She interrupts him to ask, "Sir, do you need an ambulance?" When he says yes, Meade asks for a suburb and street name, which prompts Iredale to yell that he is not in a town. Then the connection drops out.
Iredale called back and cried out, "Hey, this is an emergency ... emergency!" before the line dropped out again.
During the final call, Iredale, groaning audibly and breathing heavily, tells the operator he had fainted and needed a helicopter, Milovanovich's report says. She put him on hold twice before then line dropped out.
After this call, ambulance officials contacted the police and the two services began cooperating on a search. Police planes flew over the area, and a major ground search began.
Eight days later, Iredale's body was found slumped against a tree.
Milovanovich said he did not want to criticize the individual ambulance operators, instead blaming a system he said did not allow them to override a computer that demanded a street name before an ambulance could be dispatched.
"The relentless focus of all the call-takers in further attempting to establish an address or precise location, having regard to the nature of the calls, was astonishing," Milovanovich said.
The operators "lacked empathy" because they were too preoccupied with the computer, he said. Operators should be trained to override the computer and to recognize signs of illness or distress in callers.
Ambulance service chief executive Greg Rochford said all of Milovanovich's recommendations would be implemented "as swiftly as we can."
"The ambulance service sincerely and unreservedly apologizes for the deficiencies in the way the service managed this case and for the hurt that was clearly caused to the Iredale family," Rochford told reporters.
David's father, Stephen Iredale, declined to criticize the ambulance service but said he hoped the inquiry would help prevent anyone suffering a similar fate to his son.
"We hope that this will result in a useful legacy for David," he told reporters after the coroner's report was released.
Sadly, IMO, it probably will happen. As long as we are not using the technology available today to detect where cell phones are when they dial 9-1-1, people will always be lost on hiking trails, in snow storms, in canals (as that lady was in Florida), in trunks (Jennifer Johnson) etc.....
I hope they address that problem too. There will always be human error but we should be doing what we can to minimize it.
Also call takers and dispatchers should be "Certified" and held to certain standards.
Take in the apology at the end. If ONLY the CCSO would have done that in the beginning....
Much love and peace to the family. It must be difficult for them to be thrust in the news again.
Link: http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20090508/AS.Australia.Forest.Tragedy/
Lost teen's emergency calls prove futile
By ROHAN SULLIVAN, AP
Seven times, teenage hiker David Iredale used his cell phone to call Australia's equivalent of 911, pleading for rescue after he became lost in tough scrubland and ran out of water in 100-degree (37 C) heat.
Each time he got through, he was told he needed to give a street address before an ambulance could be sent. Shortly after the final call, Ireland collapsed and died of thirst.
An inquiry into the 2006 death of the 17-year-old exposed deep flaws in the country's emergency response system, including what a coroner called an astonishing lack of empathy by the operators who took his increasingly desperate calls for help.
Officials in New South Wales state on Friday acknowledged the system's failure and promised to overhaul it. Iredale's father said preventing similar tragedies in the future would be a legacy his son deserved.
A wilderness enthusiast and member of Sydney Grammar School's rowing team, Iredale set off with two classmates on a summer vacation camping trek in the Blue Mountains, a picturesque but notoriously harsh landscape of eucalyptus-shrouded peaks and gorges 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of Sydney.
It was supposed to take three days and earn the boys points toward the Duke of Edinburgh Award, an international program to promote leadership and good character.
They were well-prepared with camping gear, maps and plenty of food. The two less experienced hikers carried water in plastic bottles, while Iredale had a 4-pint (two-liter) hiker's water bag strapped to his back.
According to testimony to the coroner's inquiry from the two survivors, the hikers' water ran dry on the first day as temperatures rose to 100 F (37 C) and they slurped it down while marching across rocky terrain and tree-lined trails. After camping for the night, they pressed on toward a river they expected to reach within a few hours on the second day.
Iredale, fitter and more experienced, kept darting ahead of his colleagues and waiting for them to catch him up, they told the inquiry. When they eventually reached the river Iredale was not there.
How Iredale became lost is not clear. But when he did, he turned to what many would consider a modern-day lifeline: his cell phone.
In audio records of his calls to "000" — Australia's version of the 911 emergency line — Iredale tells ambulance officials he has lost the trail and is surrounded by "the bush."
Dialing from deep in a gorge, Iredale's connection kept dropping out, ambulance officers told coroner Carl Milovanovich, who began his inquiry last month.
Iredale's first call to triple-0 was put through to police and quickly cut out, though not before he was able to convey that he was stuck near a peak called Mount Solitary — information that eventually helped triggered a search.
Over the next hour or so, he called triple-0 six more times. Once the call was diverted to a recorded message. Five times he was connected to the New South Wales state Ambulance Service.
Milovanovich's 35-page report released Thursday recounts the calls, and Iredale's rising anguish as time and again operators "interrogated" him about a street name that could be entered into the service's computer. He could only name the walking trail and Katoomba, the town where the trio began their trek.
On the third call, an obviously distressed Iredale tells operator Laura Meade: "I'm lost. I need water. I haven't had water for a long period of time."
She interrupts him to ask, "Sir, do you need an ambulance?" When he says yes, Meade asks for a suburb and street name, which prompts Iredale to yell that he is not in a town. Then the connection drops out.
Iredale called back and cried out, "Hey, this is an emergency ... emergency!" before the line dropped out again.
During the final call, Iredale, groaning audibly and breathing heavily, tells the operator he had fainted and needed a helicopter, Milovanovich's report says. She put him on hold twice before then line dropped out.
After this call, ambulance officials contacted the police and the two services began cooperating on a search. Police planes flew over the area, and a major ground search began.
Eight days later, Iredale's body was found slumped against a tree.
Milovanovich said he did not want to criticize the individual ambulance operators, instead blaming a system he said did not allow them to override a computer that demanded a street name before an ambulance could be dispatched.
"The relentless focus of all the call-takers in further attempting to establish an address or precise location, having regard to the nature of the calls, was astonishing," Milovanovich said.
The operators "lacked empathy" because they were too preoccupied with the computer, he said. Operators should be trained to override the computer and to recognize signs of illness or distress in callers.
Ambulance service chief executive Greg Rochford said all of Milovanovich's recommendations would be implemented "as swiftly as we can."
"The ambulance service sincerely and unreservedly apologizes for the deficiencies in the way the service managed this case and for the hurt that was clearly caused to the Iredale family," Rochford told reporters.
David's father, Stephen Iredale, declined to criticize the ambulance service but said he hoped the inquiry would help prevent anyone suffering a similar fate to his son.
"We hope that this will result in a useful legacy for David," he told reporters after the coroner's report was released.
Friday, May 8, 2009
John Della Bosca admits Triple 0 failings following David Iredale death
I blogged about David Iredale and his tragedy in Australia a couple of weeks ago. Here's an update. I hope they address the cell phone location problems too. I really really do. If we could only put a GPS chip in all cell phones. ALL cell phones so that if a cell phone uses 9-1-1 it immediately gives a location. The technology is out there. And it's not expensive. Some have said that the ACLU and others have problems with that because of privacy issues. Sorry. If your cell phone dials 9-1-1 someone is going to find you whether you want to be found or not. David obviously wanted to be found. Denise's murderer obviously didn't. Finding either location would've saved a life. Finding both locations would have saved 2 lives. David's and Denise's.
Article:
UPDATED | May 07, 2009
Article from: Australian Associated Press
THE NSW government says it will accept a coroner's recommendations to fix problems at triple-zero call centres after an inquiry into the tragic death of a teenage bushwalker.
Deputy State Coroner Carl Milovanovich was scathing of the NSW Ambulance Service call centre in handing down his findings into the death of David Iredale.
The 17-year-old student died during a planned three-day trek through the Blue Mountains National Park with two friends from Sydney Grammar School.
The trio was undertaking the December 2006 bushwalk as part of requirements for The Duke Of Edinburgh Awards scheme operated by their school.
Mr Milovanovich found David died from "the effects of dehydration", but he was critical of the triple-zero call centre's treatment of the desperate teenager.
Among his recommendations, the coroner called for all ambulance service call centre operators to have access to paramedical advice.
He also urged a widespread review of the training and protocols used by ambulance service triple-zero operators.
Health Minister John Della Bosca said the ambulance service would accept all the recommendations.
"This is a tragic case and the evidence given to the inquiry was very concerning - the government accepts there have been deficiencies in the triple-zero service,'' Mr Della Bosca said.
"The government will urgently form the working party recommended by the coroner and begin analysis of the issues identified by the coroner.''
Mr Della Bosca said work would start immediately to address the limitations of the ambulance service's existing software and database to be more effective in taking, logging, recovering and transferring emergency calls.
AAP
Article:
UPDATED | May 07, 2009
Article from: Australian Associated Press
THE NSW government says it will accept a coroner's recommendations to fix problems at triple-zero call centres after an inquiry into the tragic death of a teenage bushwalker.
Deputy State Coroner Carl Milovanovich was scathing of the NSW Ambulance Service call centre in handing down his findings into the death of David Iredale.
The 17-year-old student died during a planned three-day trek through the Blue Mountains National Park with two friends from Sydney Grammar School.
The trio was undertaking the December 2006 bushwalk as part of requirements for The Duke Of Edinburgh Awards scheme operated by their school.
Mr Milovanovich found David died from "the effects of dehydration", but he was critical of the triple-zero call centre's treatment of the desperate teenager.
Among his recommendations, the coroner called for all ambulance service call centre operators to have access to paramedical advice.
He also urged a widespread review of the training and protocols used by ambulance service triple-zero operators.
Health Minister John Della Bosca said the ambulance service would accept all the recommendations.
"This is a tragic case and the evidence given to the inquiry was very concerning - the government accepts there have been deficiencies in the triple-zero service,'' Mr Della Bosca said.
"The government will urgently form the working party recommended by the coroner and begin analysis of the issues identified by the coroner.''
Mr Della Bosca said work would start immediately to address the limitations of the ambulance service's existing software and database to be more effective in taking, logging, recovering and transferring emergency calls.
AAP
Sunday, April 19, 2009
www.policemag.com Web Poll
Question:
Are you confident that your 911 dispatchers are providing you with all available and pertinent information on your calls?
Yes: 20.6 %
No: 79.4 %
Link here: http://www.policemag.com/WebPolls/Web-Poll.aspx
I don't even know what to say. I'm without words and saddened.
Obviously, Denise's tragedy isn't isolated especially in Florida. Olidia Kerr Day and Jennifer Johnson here in Florida. Matthew Cantrell in Texas. Brittany Zimmerman........
The three policemen killed in Allegheny County equally tragic if not more so.
All saints and martyrs for a cause. The cause being to fix 9-1-1 nation wide. Let's give these call takers and dispatchers the technology they need and let's certify them. And let's weed out the ones that will not step up and use the technologies that are available to them. Not to mention the ones who have lost their compassion. We've all heard those stories. I can't help but think of Matthew Cantrell. If you haven't read his story, he's the little one year old I blogged about here:
http://toosad4words.blogspot.com/2009/03/matthew-cantrell-and-9-1-1.html
It's a high stress job and we need our front lines to be top notch people with not only compassion but integrity.
In my opinion, there are outstanding 9-1-1 centers and then not-so-good 9-1-1 centers. I imagine that 20% that answered yes are working in states that have standards set. I imagine they have quality assurance programs and are using the best technologies available and affordable.
This poll is a prime example of why we need a set of national standards.
I've never been one to be for more laws. At one time I was a registered Libertarian. But in this case? Geesh. We have to do something.
I posted yesterday what happened in our area on Friday. They got it right. They say they did. But only after Denise lost her life do they have the radios finally communicating properly between the Sarasota and Charlotte County.
I hate to see others have to lose their lives so that patching radios isn't a problem.
We still don't know if the 9-1-1 call taker who handled Jane Kowalski's call is using her CAD system properly. Is she still writing things down first? So she has 15 years experience! What good is all that experience if she's not following procedure and using the latest technology available to her.
It's just wrong. We have to get this right. And it has to be nation wide.
Just my opinion.
Are you confident that your 911 dispatchers are providing you with all available and pertinent information on your calls?
Yes: 20.6 %
No: 79.4 %
Link here: http://www.policemag.com/WebPolls/Web-Poll.aspx
I don't even know what to say. I'm without words and saddened.
Obviously, Denise's tragedy isn't isolated especially in Florida. Olidia Kerr Day and Jennifer Johnson here in Florida. Matthew Cantrell in Texas. Brittany Zimmerman........
The three policemen killed in Allegheny County equally tragic if not more so.
All saints and martyrs for a cause. The cause being to fix 9-1-1 nation wide. Let's give these call takers and dispatchers the technology they need and let's certify them. And let's weed out the ones that will not step up and use the technologies that are available to them. Not to mention the ones who have lost their compassion. We've all heard those stories. I can't help but think of Matthew Cantrell. If you haven't read his story, he's the little one year old I blogged about here:
http://toosad4words.blogspot.com/2009/03/matthew-cantrell-and-9-1-1.html
It's a high stress job and we need our front lines to be top notch people with not only compassion but integrity.
In my opinion, there are outstanding 9-1-1 centers and then not-so-good 9-1-1 centers. I imagine that 20% that answered yes are working in states that have standards set. I imagine they have quality assurance programs and are using the best technologies available and affordable.
This poll is a prime example of why we need a set of national standards.
I've never been one to be for more laws. At one time I was a registered Libertarian. But in this case? Geesh. We have to do something.
I posted yesterday what happened in our area on Friday. They got it right. They say they did. But only after Denise lost her life do they have the radios finally communicating properly between the Sarasota and Charlotte County.
I hate to see others have to lose their lives so that patching radios isn't a problem.
We still don't know if the 9-1-1 call taker who handled Jane Kowalski's call is using her CAD system properly. Is she still writing things down first? So she has 15 years experience! What good is all that experience if she's not following procedure and using the latest technology available to her.
It's just wrong. We have to get this right. And it has to be nation wide.
Just my opinion.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Channel 10 news
It takes a few minutes for the video to load on the right hand side.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=103347&catid=8
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=103347&catid=8
Last night News Channel 8, Jennifer Johnson and Denise Amber Lee
Sorry, I still don't know how to embed a video story. There were actually two stories last night on the news. Channel 10 www.10connects.com and News Channel 8.
Here's channel 8's story:
http://www2.tbo.com/video/2009/apr/01/victims-husband-perusing-legislation--47652/#comment
Here's channel 8's story:
http://www2.tbo.com/video/2009/apr/01/victims-husband-perusing-legislation--47652/#comment
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Florida, 9-1-1, Jennifer Johnson, The Tampa Tribune
I just don't have words to describe my thoughts on yet another heart breaking story and of course, it's Florida. I hear the Senate is going to pass the bill! Thank goodness something positive is happening. 9-1-1 will get better!
God bless the Johnson family with peace and love. I imagine their hurt and anger are on par with our family's and Olidia Kerr Day's family. Please keep them in your prayers.
Dispatcher: Police Didn't Respond To 911 Call From Trunk
According to documents, Jennifer Johnson was suffocated by two plastic bags tied over her head: a garbage bag and a plastic bag from Party City, where she had purchased supplies for her daughter Je'Neiyce's birthday party.
By VALERIE KALFRIN The Tampa Tribune
Published: April 1, 2009
Updated: 06:50 pm
Related Links
Police Say Record Was Wrong
Listen To The 911 Call
Hear Brown's Voicemail
Family, Friends Mourn Loss Of 'Hopeless Romantic'
Photo Gallery
Jennifer Johnson had about a minute to talk before a 911 operator in Plant City lost a connection with her.
"Ma'am, I'm in a trunk right now," the 31-year-old Tampa mother yelled on a copy of the call released today. "They got me in the trunk. … I don't know where I'm at."
Soon after the call disconnected, she was dead.
Prosecutors released the call along with 700 pages of discovery material that outlines the kidnapping and first-degree murder case against Vincent George Brown Jr., Johnson's on-again, off-again boyfriend and the father of her daughter, Je'Neiyce.
The material also contains a report that Plant City police corroborated today showing they never sent an officer to try to find Johnson.
This contradicts dispatch logs the department provided to News Channel 8 in December. At that time, the agency said the logs showed an officer had been sent to search a four-mile stretch of Interstate 4 in Thonotosassa, where a cell-phone tower had picked up Johnson's call.
Plant City police Capt. Darrell Wilson said today that an administrative review found that officer was working an unrelated security check in the area.
"There was never an officer dispatched," Wilson said. "That call log was for something different."
Police Chief Bill McDaniel's office said he was unavailable for comment today.
'I Guess We Shouldn't Have Assumed'
A Plant City communications operator recorded a 911 call with Johnson at 5:30 a.m. Nov. 15 that lasted about 1 minute 20 seconds. The conversation was so brief that Johnson did not provide a description of her car and could not say where she had been kidnapped, the documents say.
The operator had trouble hearing Johnson over loud music in the background. In addition, her cell phone number and wireless provider did not register when the call came in, making it difficult to map, Wilson and the discovery documents say.
The operator told her immediate supervisor and a patrol supervisor about the call after it disconnected, but neither listened to the call nor took any action, a report in the discovery documents says.
The log police provided in December showed an officer was dispatched at 5:38 a.m. that day along the interstate.
Today, Wilson said the department thought that officer had been sent to search for Johnson because of the agency's policy to send an officer to the last-known location of a disconnected 911 call.
"I guess we shouldn't have assumed," he said.
Johnson's phone did not have global-positioning system technology to help police pinpoint where she was. Her trunk did not have an internal release.
Activist Seeks 911 Reform
All cell phones should have GPS technology, said Nathan Lee, the president of a foundation named after his wife Denise Amber Lee.
"I got a GPS that can tell me where I'm going on the interstate," Nathan Lee said. "But we can't track down a cell phone? That's unbelievable."
Denise Amber Lee, 21, was abducted from her North Port home on Jan. 17, 2008. The daughter of a Charlotte County sheriff's sergeant, her disappearance touched off of a massive search by multiple agencies that ultimately failed to save her, but communications mistakes made on the night of her murder have spawned a broader movement to change the way emergency calls are handled in Florida and across the nation.
Nathan Lee is leading a push to ensure 911 dispatchers in Florida follow uniform regulations in handling emergency calls. Every agency's protocol is different, and dispatchers throughout the state have varying levels of training, Lee said.
A disparity in technology between 911 call centers is also an issue, he said. "The technology is there. Counties just can't get funding for it."
Although Johnson's signal couldn't be pinpointed, Lee said he finds it "very disturbing" that police said they sent units to find her when they really didn't.
Uniform standards for dispatchers—and technology—may have saved Johnson and his wife, Lee said.
"The foundation is going to get in touch with the Johnsons and offer our condolences," he said. "We want to let them know that progress is being made."
Johnson's family found her appeal for help heart-wrenching.
"It's devastating for me to hear," Rachel Johnson, the slain woman's sister, said of the 911 call. "She was reaching out for help, but no one was there to help her. I think about it every day, and there's nothing I can do."
Only Chance To Cry For Help
Johnson's aunt, Levery White, said even if the police were unable to find her, they should have tried.
"They didn't even send nobody. They didn't care," she said.
Relatives reported Johnson missing the evening of Nov. 15 after she did not show up for her daughter's birthday party.
Tampa police tracked her cell-phone activity through the phone company and on the morning of Nov. 18 discovered the 911 call had hit on a cell-phone tower at Interstate 4 and Thonotosassa Road.
Tampa police think the 911 call was the only opportunity Johnson had to communicate with authorities.
Johnson was found dead the evening of Nov. 18 in the garage of a vacant house in Lakeland, just south of Interstate 4 at the Kathleen Road exit. Her cell phone was tucked in her bra.
Phone records indicate that from about 8:15 a.m. Nov. 15 until the phone ran out of power, its signal pinged off a cell tower near the house where her body was found. She made no other calls.
Brown, 39, is accused of killing Johnson on Nov. 15, Je'Neiyce's 2nd birthday. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said detectives are investigating whether someone helped Brown. "There could be more arrests in the case," she said today.
Tribune reporter Ray Reyes and News Channel 8 reporters Krista Klaus and Samara Sodos contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800
God bless the Johnson family with peace and love. I imagine their hurt and anger are on par with our family's and Olidia Kerr Day's family. Please keep them in your prayers.
Dispatcher: Police Didn't Respond To 911 Call From Trunk
According to documents, Jennifer Johnson was suffocated by two plastic bags tied over her head: a garbage bag and a plastic bag from Party City, where she had purchased supplies for her daughter Je'Neiyce's birthday party.
By VALERIE KALFRIN The Tampa Tribune
Published: April 1, 2009
Updated: 06:50 pm
Related Links
Police Say Record Was Wrong
Listen To The 911 Call
Hear Brown's Voicemail
Family, Friends Mourn Loss Of 'Hopeless Romantic'
Photo Gallery
Jennifer Johnson had about a minute to talk before a 911 operator in Plant City lost a connection with her.
"Ma'am, I'm in a trunk right now," the 31-year-old Tampa mother yelled on a copy of the call released today. "They got me in the trunk. … I don't know where I'm at."
Soon after the call disconnected, she was dead.
Prosecutors released the call along with 700 pages of discovery material that outlines the kidnapping and first-degree murder case against Vincent George Brown Jr., Johnson's on-again, off-again boyfriend and the father of her daughter, Je'Neiyce.
The material also contains a report that Plant City police corroborated today showing they never sent an officer to try to find Johnson.
This contradicts dispatch logs the department provided to News Channel 8 in December. At that time, the agency said the logs showed an officer had been sent to search a four-mile stretch of Interstate 4 in Thonotosassa, where a cell-phone tower had picked up Johnson's call.
Plant City police Capt. Darrell Wilson said today that an administrative review found that officer was working an unrelated security check in the area.
"There was never an officer dispatched," Wilson said. "That call log was for something different."
Police Chief Bill McDaniel's office said he was unavailable for comment today.
'I Guess We Shouldn't Have Assumed'
A Plant City communications operator recorded a 911 call with Johnson at 5:30 a.m. Nov. 15 that lasted about 1 minute 20 seconds. The conversation was so brief that Johnson did not provide a description of her car and could not say where she had been kidnapped, the documents say.
The operator had trouble hearing Johnson over loud music in the background. In addition, her cell phone number and wireless provider did not register when the call came in, making it difficult to map, Wilson and the discovery documents say.
The operator told her immediate supervisor and a patrol supervisor about the call after it disconnected, but neither listened to the call nor took any action, a report in the discovery documents says.
The log police provided in December showed an officer was dispatched at 5:38 a.m. that day along the interstate.
Today, Wilson said the department thought that officer had been sent to search for Johnson because of the agency's policy to send an officer to the last-known location of a disconnected 911 call.
"I guess we shouldn't have assumed," he said.
Johnson's phone did not have global-positioning system technology to help police pinpoint where she was. Her trunk did not have an internal release.
Activist Seeks 911 Reform
All cell phones should have GPS technology, said Nathan Lee, the president of a foundation named after his wife Denise Amber Lee.
"I got a GPS that can tell me where I'm going on the interstate," Nathan Lee said. "But we can't track down a cell phone? That's unbelievable."
Denise Amber Lee, 21, was abducted from her North Port home on Jan. 17, 2008. The daughter of a Charlotte County sheriff's sergeant, her disappearance touched off of a massive search by multiple agencies that ultimately failed to save her, but communications mistakes made on the night of her murder have spawned a broader movement to change the way emergency calls are handled in Florida and across the nation.
Nathan Lee is leading a push to ensure 911 dispatchers in Florida follow uniform regulations in handling emergency calls. Every agency's protocol is different, and dispatchers throughout the state have varying levels of training, Lee said.
A disparity in technology between 911 call centers is also an issue, he said. "The technology is there. Counties just can't get funding for it."
Although Johnson's signal couldn't be pinpointed, Lee said he finds it "very disturbing" that police said they sent units to find her when they really didn't.
Uniform standards for dispatchers—and technology—may have saved Johnson and his wife, Lee said.
"The foundation is going to get in touch with the Johnsons and offer our condolences," he said. "We want to let them know that progress is being made."
Johnson's family found her appeal for help heart-wrenching.
"It's devastating for me to hear," Rachel Johnson, the slain woman's sister, said of the 911 call. "She was reaching out for help, but no one was there to help her. I think about it every day, and there's nothing I can do."
Only Chance To Cry For Help
Johnson's aunt, Levery White, said even if the police were unable to find her, they should have tried.
"They didn't even send nobody. They didn't care," she said.
Relatives reported Johnson missing the evening of Nov. 15 after she did not show up for her daughter's birthday party.
Tampa police tracked her cell-phone activity through the phone company and on the morning of Nov. 18 discovered the 911 call had hit on a cell-phone tower at Interstate 4 and Thonotosassa Road.
Tampa police think the 911 call was the only opportunity Johnson had to communicate with authorities.
Johnson was found dead the evening of Nov. 18 in the garage of a vacant house in Lakeland, just south of Interstate 4 at the Kathleen Road exit. Her cell phone was tucked in her bra.
Phone records indicate that from about 8:15 a.m. Nov. 15 until the phone ran out of power, its signal pinged off a cell tower near the house where her body was found. She made no other calls.
Brown, 39, is accused of killing Johnson on Nov. 15, Je'Neiyce's 2nd birthday. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said detectives are investigating whether someone helped Brown. "There could be more arrests in the case," she said today.
Tribune reporter Ray Reyes and News Channel 8 reporters Krista Klaus and Samara Sodos contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Olidia Kerr Day (part two)
I posted about Olidia Kerr Day the other day and missed some startling tragic details. I heard from Olidia's sister, Olga this morning. Gosh, it gets worse. You can hear the emotions in Olga's words just by reading them. Anyhow, read what she asked me to add. I can't imagine Olidia's last moments. Just as I can't imagine Denise's.
Both thought at some point they would be saved! Both were expecting something from 9-1-1 that they didn't get. Is that 9-1-1's fault? Was it human error? Was it lack of compassion on the call takers parts? Was it the latest technology available not being used? Was it Denise and Olidia not understanding how 9-1-1 works? Could Olidia have been saved? Yes! Could Denise have been saved? Yes!
Fortunately we know that changes are in the works. Representative Ken Roberson is introducing a bill in the Florida State Legislature asking that standards be made "mandatory". Unfortunately the standards and training will not be enforced totally until 2012 and we need those changes now. That's okay, it's a good second step. The Denise Amber Lee Act was the first step. We just got back from Washington DC that was fruitful. The guys just got back from California all pumped up and motivated. And it's true that the majority of 9-1-1 calls ARE handled appropriately. Out in California Mark and Nate said they met many wonderful, conscientious, diligent and dedicated call takers and dispatchers. I'm sure we must have them here in Florida!
But Olidia's and Denise's call takers definitely dropped the ball. Lives were lost.
And with more and more people using cell phones to call 9-1-1 in our increasingly mobile society, we need to use the technology available to us. It's hard to believe you can GPS a coral reef, 30 miles off the coast to go scuba diving, but you can't find a person using a cell phone.
We need to address the problems that need fixing and fix them so that other families do not have to suffer the way our families have. Bad enough having a loved one murdered by a maniac. But then to know they could've been saved and that the police departments will not acknowledge what went wrong and then have them treat you with disdain, well........ it's words can't describe the pain.
see former post: http://toosad4words.blogspot.com/2009/03/olidia-kerr-day.html
This is what Olidia's sister wrote to me this morning:
"...the only thing that I would add is that Olidia eventually remembered the address to the police station, told the operator that she remembered now and to have police outside waiting for her.
How she must have felt when she drove up and not seen anyone, Olidia knew she was going to be murdered and those were her last words "Oh God he is going to kill me".
She was gunned down by the front door of the police station.
It still pains me to remember and I am full of anger by the way that Denise and Olida lost their lives because someone did not care enough to do their jobs correctly.
I understand that Denise's calls were not dispatched either, every time I remember the eyewitness in her case who was following (this should read 'in front of the car') the car I get chills.
What a tragedy! I can't understand how these people are still working for the 911 centers. They should be in jail, I am sorry as you can see I am still angry and I don't know if it will ever go away."
Both thought at some point they would be saved! Both were expecting something from 9-1-1 that they didn't get. Is that 9-1-1's fault? Was it human error? Was it lack of compassion on the call takers parts? Was it the latest technology available not being used? Was it Denise and Olidia not understanding how 9-1-1 works? Could Olidia have been saved? Yes! Could Denise have been saved? Yes!
Fortunately we know that changes are in the works. Representative Ken Roberson is introducing a bill in the Florida State Legislature asking that standards be made "mandatory". Unfortunately the standards and training will not be enforced totally until 2012 and we need those changes now. That's okay, it's a good second step. The Denise Amber Lee Act was the first step. We just got back from Washington DC that was fruitful. The guys just got back from California all pumped up and motivated. And it's true that the majority of 9-1-1 calls ARE handled appropriately. Out in California Mark and Nate said they met many wonderful, conscientious, diligent and dedicated call takers and dispatchers. I'm sure we must have them here in Florida!
But Olidia's and Denise's call takers definitely dropped the ball. Lives were lost.
And with more and more people using cell phones to call 9-1-1 in our increasingly mobile society, we need to use the technology available to us. It's hard to believe you can GPS a coral reef, 30 miles off the coast to go scuba diving, but you can't find a person using a cell phone.
We need to address the problems that need fixing and fix them so that other families do not have to suffer the way our families have. Bad enough having a loved one murdered by a maniac. But then to know they could've been saved and that the police departments will not acknowledge what went wrong and then have them treat you with disdain, well........ it's words can't describe the pain.
see former post: http://toosad4words.blogspot.com/2009/03/olidia-kerr-day.html
This is what Olidia's sister wrote to me this morning:
"...the only thing that I would add is that Olidia eventually remembered the address to the police station, told the operator that she remembered now and to have police outside waiting for her.
How she must have felt when she drove up and not seen anyone, Olidia knew she was going to be murdered and those were her last words "Oh God he is going to kill me".
She was gunned down by the front door of the police station.
It still pains me to remember and I am full of anger by the way that Denise and Olida lost their lives because someone did not care enough to do their jobs correctly.
I understand that Denise's calls were not dispatched either, every time I remember the eyewitness in her case who was following (this should read 'in front of the car') the car I get chills.
What a tragedy! I can't understand how these people are still working for the 911 centers. They should be in jail, I am sorry as you can see I am still angry and I don't know if it will ever go away."
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Olidia Kerr Day
I promised myself earlier that I would blog about Olidia Kerr Day and her family today. I feel such a connection to this story. From what I understand, Olidia saved her children and her family that day just as Denise saved Noah and Adam.
Olidia Kerr Day was a lovely woman living in SE Florida. Her tragedy parallels Denise's in a couple of ways.
First, she got the killer as far away from her family as she possibly could. What a hero.
Second, because she was using a cell phone things didn't go as she expected them to.
Because we're using old technology and not using the technology available precious minutes were lost in saving her life. Her 9-1-1 call went to the wrong police station.
She was begging for directions to the closest police station but because the dispatcher continued to ask questions as opposed to answering questions, Olidia didn't get the directions she needed.
She was eventually gunned down right outside the police station doors. The gunman then turned the gun on himself.
Was it Olidia's fault or the 9-1-1 dispatchers fault? All I know is that the system needs to change. I do know Olidia could've been saved had things been handled differently.
I'm not posting the video because in the video you actually see the murder.
Full story and transcript here along with audio if desired:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-dispatch-call-0511,0,5814602.story
Memorial website here:
http://olidia-viera-kerr-day.memory-of.com/About.aspx
Wasn't she a beautiful woman? It's simply heartbreaking. It's just wrong. What is wrong with our society? And why? why? why? The why's are endless.
Nathan was able to meet her son when they were both on Dr Phil a few months ago. I've been in some contact with her sister. But truly, what can you say? "sorry for your loss"..... just seems too trite.
God bless her family with much love and peace. I'm at such a loss with words.
Olidia Kerr Day was a lovely woman living in SE Florida. Her tragedy parallels Denise's in a couple of ways.
First, she got the killer as far away from her family as she possibly could. What a hero.
Second, because she was using a cell phone things didn't go as she expected them to.
Because we're using old technology and not using the technology available precious minutes were lost in saving her life. Her 9-1-1 call went to the wrong police station.
She was begging for directions to the closest police station but because the dispatcher continued to ask questions as opposed to answering questions, Olidia didn't get the directions she needed.
She was eventually gunned down right outside the police station doors. The gunman then turned the gun on himself.
Was it Olidia's fault or the 9-1-1 dispatchers fault? All I know is that the system needs to change. I do know Olidia could've been saved had things been handled differently.
I'm not posting the video because in the video you actually see the murder.
Full story and transcript here along with audio if desired:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-dispatch-call-0511,0,5814602.story
Memorial website here:
http://olidia-viera-kerr-day.memory-of.com/About.aspx
Wasn't she a beautiful woman? It's simply heartbreaking. It's just wrong. What is wrong with our society? And why? why? why? The why's are endless.
Nathan was able to meet her son when they were both on Dr Phil a few months ago. I've been in some contact with her sister. But truly, what can you say? "sorry for your loss"..... just seems too trite.
God bless her family with much love and peace. I'm at such a loss with words.
Friday, March 6, 2009
On a brighter, lighter note
Through this journey we are meeting many MANY good people. Mark and Nathan both came home from California talking about the 9-1-1 call takers and dispatchers they met. Mark and Nate both said these people were eager for knowledge and eager for information on how they can do their jobs better.
I have also been in touch with a former dispatcher from Charlotte County. She, too, wants so much to see how things can improve.
This industry is chock full of dedicated, passionate and diligent individuals. So, when I get angry I don't intend or mean to diss on the entire industry.
This is a sample of some of the notes and emails Nathan and Mark have received:
Nathan,
I wanted to thank you for telling your story. I am even more thankful that God sent Kevin Willet to bring us together. Your loss of Denise has served as my wake up call. It is so easy to get lost in the day to day routines and to lose focus of why we do the job we were called to do. Both D~~~ and I have made it a point to bring more awareness to your story. We are actively telling all C~~ dispatchers we encounter , your story. We hope we can help you further now, tomorrow and in the future. Don't take no for an answer. We support you and will keep Denise alive by improving the way we do business. Thank you.
My point being there are positives in all this madness. And it is (as I've expressed before) madness.
The more these tragic stories are told the more people will know that this industry needs our help. So many depend on 9-1-1. Denise did. Mrs Cantrell did. Brittany Zimmerman did. Olidia Kerr Day and countless others expected something more than they received. Was it the industry's fault or is it our fault because we're not educated in the way 9-1-1 works? Especially with the use of cell phones. In the Cantrell's case it obviously had nothing to do with cell phones but with procedure.
I hope with all these cases we learn from them and fix the issues to help prevent and minimize mistakes in the future.
Awareness. That's what it's all about.
God bless all 9-1-1 dispatchers and call takers with direction, guidance, steadiness, passion and empathy. And thank you. I never mean to sound ungrateful.
I have also been in touch with a former dispatcher from Charlotte County. She, too, wants so much to see how things can improve.
This industry is chock full of dedicated, passionate and diligent individuals. So, when I get angry I don't intend or mean to diss on the entire industry.
This is a sample of some of the notes and emails Nathan and Mark have received:
Nathan,
I wanted to thank you for telling your story. I am even more thankful that God sent Kevin Willet to bring us together. Your loss of Denise has served as my wake up call. It is so easy to get lost in the day to day routines and to lose focus of why we do the job we were called to do. Both D~~~ and I have made it a point to bring more awareness to your story. We are actively telling all C~~ dispatchers we encounter , your story. We hope we can help you further now, tomorrow and in the future. Don't take no for an answer. We support you and will keep Denise alive by improving the way we do business. Thank you.
My point being there are positives in all this madness. And it is (as I've expressed before) madness.
The more these tragic stories are told the more people will know that this industry needs our help. So many depend on 9-1-1. Denise did. Mrs Cantrell did. Brittany Zimmerman did. Olidia Kerr Day and countless others expected something more than they received. Was it the industry's fault or is it our fault because we're not educated in the way 9-1-1 works? Especially with the use of cell phones. In the Cantrell's case it obviously had nothing to do with cell phones but with procedure.
I hope with all these cases we learn from them and fix the issues to help prevent and minimize mistakes in the future.
Awareness. That's what it's all about.
God bless all 9-1-1 dispatchers and call takers with direction, guidance, steadiness, passion and empathy. And thank you. I never mean to sound ungrateful.
Matthew Cantrell and 9-1-1
.jpg)
I thought my babies and grandbabies were adorable but look at this little guy! Isn't he or I should say wasn't he adorable. Yes, wasn't. Another 9-1-1 tragedy. And one I simply can't get out of my mind.
Little Matthew was from Murphy, Texas. He, his mom and his older brother were watching TV when Matthew wandered away. He somehow became tangled up in a play soccer net. By the time the mom noticed he was missing he was in deep trouble. Matthew's mom tried desperately to save his life. I listened to the 9-1-1 call today and you can literally hear the desperation in her voice.
It brought back some memories of my own two boys when they were little. One time Brian somehow got out of the house and he was standing in the middle of Carrollton Road. He was standing on the double yellow line wearing nothing but a diaper. I forget what I was doing. I must've been doing something. Because there he was out there in the street.
Nathan when he was two swallowed all my high blood pressure pills. He climbed up the kitchen counter and somehow got the pills. The child proof lid wasn't on tight. I thought he was upstairs napping and there he was in there eating my pills as if they were candy. We rushed him to the hospital and on the way I heard his death rattle. They saw us come in the ER and pushed everyone who was ahead of us out of the way and all the doctors started working on him.
My point is things happen. I wasn't an unfit mother.
In Matthew's case the 9-1-1 call taker can be heard saying "he either tried to strangle himself or someone tried to strangle him". What bull. The baby was only a year old! You can hear the call taker saying that as clear as day! Who did he think he was? God? Accidents and tragedies happen. Not everyone these days wants to harm their kids. Sadly there are folks out there that do great harm and actually kill their kids. But if this call taker had listened, truly listened instead of judging he would have heard the mom (who, yes, tragically was hysterical) trying her best to calm herself down. She literally begged the man to tell her what to do.
Do these call takers become desensitized through time? Do they witness so much tragedy that they don't feel it anymore?
You hear them discussing it afterwards and they're just cold. It's creepy. One says "yeah, she wasn't going to listen. I tried and she just wasn't going to listen". That's totally untrue. She did try and you can hear her telling herself "calm down. I have to calm down. Breathe."
Then the police on the scene separate this poor distraught mother from her son! Because they presumed it was a crime scene? OH MY GOD! HOW DO YOU DO THAT? WHO MADE THAT DECISION???? Then they tell the paramedics that "he is gone" and that it is "now a crime scene". Meanwhile the paramedics testified how the mom could be heard screaming her grief. Well heck yeah! The paramedics understood. I'd be screaming too if they had separated me from Nathan or Brian. Just watch the movie "Dumbo" when Dumbo's taken from his mom. Yes, I think I could become violent. The night Nathan was a suspect in Denise's death, I wouldn't leave. He wanted me to. He asked me almost begged me to go home and help Sue with the babies. Would I leave? Hell NO! Even tho' he was 23 years old, I wasn't leaving. He was in danger. His wife was in danger.
Fortunately those paramedics forced the issue and told the cop who thought he was God, that they were the ones to decide whether there was life.
Sadly and tragically because of all the wasted time any chance of little Matthew surviving was thrown away and it all began with the call taker who wasn't helping the mom. Then just as in Denise's case it all snowballed and like Denise, little Matthew didn't have a chance.
And this cop decides to play God and separate the boy from his mom and treat it as a crime scene? The call taker assumes someone tried to strangle him? Holy Hell.
Excuse my language but I'm quite distraught over this.
Also, Matthew's 4 yo older brother witnessed the whole thing. Mom sent him for the scissors to cut through the net. Does that sound like someone who just tried to strangle her child?
I just look at that beautiful face. He was beautiful! It's obvious in his face and chubby arms his parents adored him! That he was a healthy beautiful boy.
I would think that the citizens in Murphy, Texas would be up in arms saying "hey! this is wrong! We deserve better!" "We can do better!"
But, you know, just like in Charlotte County the City of Murphy doesn't think they handled anyo of this wrong. They feel they handled everything appropriately. Sound familiar?
Hah! Sorry for the rant.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)