Reader's Digest November 2009

911 Calls Gone Tragically Wrong


http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/911-calls-gone-tragically-wrong/article166229.html


One afternoon in January 2008, Nathan Lee returned home from work to find his two little boys crammed into the same crib, crying. Their mother had left behind her cell phone and purse and disappeared. Within a couple of hours, police in her southwest Florida town had a pretty good idea of what had happened to Denise Amber Lee. She'd been spotted tied up with rope—had even managed to briefly call 911—while in the backseat of a car owned by a 36-year-old unemployed plumber named Michael King.

Some calls aren't taken seriously because the system is burdened with stupid calls, especially now that everyone has a cell.Around 6:30 that evening, a woman placed an urgent call to 911 reporting the precise location of King's Camaro. It had pulled up alongside her car at a traffic light, and she could see someone crying out for help and banging on the back window. (She thought it was a child.) Just a few miles away, police were desperately searching for Denise with dogs and a helicopter.

But tragically, the 911 center never passed along the motorist's report. One officer later told Denise's father he was "sure" the Camaro had driven right by him, but no one had told him to watch out for it. The next time anyone saw Denise Lee was a few days later. She was lying naked in a shallow grave; she'd been sexually assaulted and shot. "There is no doubt in my mind that if the 911 call had been handled properly, she would still be here," Nathan Lee says. "It will haunt me for the rest of my life."

If there's one thing we think we can count on, it's that a frantic call to 911 will bring a swift and effective response. Government's first priority, after all, is protecting its citizens. But a spate of recent cases reveal shocking flaws in our national emergency response system—at a cost measured in lives. It's a system overstressed by boneheaded calls about everything from hangnails to poor restaurant service, weakened by state governments raiding its funds, and hobbled by the incompetence of a few bad apples.

"You roll the dice" when making a call for emergency help, admits Ronald Bonneau, who runs a 911 center 30 miles south of Chicago. "Frankly, there are centers out there where the operators are not very well trained."

One of those inadequately trained operators was the Pittsburgh-area 911 worker who took a call from a woman last April asking police to remove her 22-year-old son from her home. When the operator asked whether the man, Richard Poplawski, had any weapons, the mother responded, "Yes, but they're all legal."

"Okay, but he's not threatening you with anything?" the operator asked.

"Look, I'm just waking up," the woman said. "I want him gone."

The operator reported the call to the police dispatcher with a note indicating that the son had "no weapons." As a result, police walked into a death trap. Poplawski, a former Marine recruit who'd been tossed out of boot camp, had donned a bulletproof vest and set up an ambush. He opened fire with an AK-47 rifle and two other guns, killing three officers and wounding a fourth.

Then there's the case of Brittany Zimmermann. In May 2008, the 21-year-old University of Wisconsin student dialed 911, then hung up without saying anything. Never mind the audible screams and sounds of struggle in the background—all caught on tape—the operator insists she heard no noise on the line. She neither informed police nor tried to call back. Later that day, Zimmermann's fiancé found her stabbed and beaten to death in her apartment. The call, police later acknowledged, "should have resulted in a Madison police officer being dispatched"—an action that might have saved the young woman's life.

Human error might also have cost the life of Darlene Dukes, an Atlanta woman who called 911 last August gasping for breath. Dukes, 39, reached a dispatcher who already had a string of mishandled calls on her record and who, according to her supervisor, had once fallen asleep so deeply at her desk that she tumbled from her chair. (She claims she fell as she leaned to pick up a paper.) That dispatcher sent paramedics to the wrong address, 28 miles from the caller's home. By the time an ambulance reached Dukes, an hour later, she was nearly dead from a blood clot in her lungs. She died soon after reaching the hospital.

At least the operator in the Dukes fiasco was finally fired (she's appealing her termination). Incredibly, most of the 911 personnel involved in the other tragedies are still on the job. One of the two operators found to have botched the Denise Lee case was suspended without pay for 60 hours; the other, for only 36. The woman who gave the "no weapons" message to Pittsburgh cops was given paid leave. The operator who failed to act on Brittany Zimmermann's call was allowed to transfer to another county position.

This lack of accountability doesn't just allow incompetent operators to remain on the job—it gives workers with bad attitudes license to abuse the people they are paid to protect. When a Nashville woman called 911 last spring because her boyfriend was threatening her with a knife, an operator was caught on tape muttering to himself after hanging up, "I don't give a s— what happens to you." The call center apparently took its time forwarding the information, and police arrived three hours later. But at least the victim in that case survived.

Last January, a 911 operator fielded a call reporting that an Orlando woman, Loyta Sloley, had been kidnapped. The operator was able to reach Sloley on her cell phone, but she wouldn't—or couldn't—tell him where she was. He then brusquely lectured her that she was "going to be in some serious trouble" and could be charged for the expense of a manhunt if she didn't cooperate. It took nearly a half hour in all for the operator to dispatch police. By the time the cops arrived, Sloley's ex-boyfriend had shot and killed her and turned the gun on himself.

Maybe the most heartbreaking case of all was the one involving five-year-old Robert Turner . He called 911 in Detroit twice when his mother collapsed. But the dispatchers thought the call was a prank.

Police arrived to find the boy's mother, 46-year-old Sherrill Turner, dead on the floor. A jury convicted the first operator of willful neglect. But she appealed her firing, and it was overruled this past summer. She is already back on the job.

Bad operators are not the only issue. It's amazing how many idiots burden the system with stupid calls, especially now that nearly everyone carries a cell phone. In February, a Boynton Beach, Florida, man called 911 because Burger King did not have lemonade. He didn't get his drink, but he did get a court summons. In 2006, an Oregon woman called to ask the police, who had responded earlier to a noise complaint at her home, to return to the house. Eventually, she admitted why: One officer was "the cutest cop I've seen in a long time." She saw him again soon enough—when he arrested her for the dumb call. A California study found that as many as 45 percent of the emergency calls placed from cell phones in the state were frivolous or prank calls.

You can imagine what that does to the 911 system. It creates delays and overworks operators. And this is happening at a time when states are cutting back in every category and, worse, have begun raiding funds intended to keep 911 centers fully staffed and well equipped. More than $200 million in fees collected from cell phone users and earmarked for upgrades to the 911 system around the country have been diverted by state governments to pay for needs outside emergency response, according to a recent Associated Press investigation. In Wisconsin, $100 million meant for 911 upgrades will be used to plug other holes in the budget. In New York, a new fee instituted to fund 911 services will pay for general budget items and new police uniforms. Emergency budgets are getting "hammered," says Craig Whittington, president of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). "It's ridiculous."

Fortunately, people determined to protect the quality of our 911 service are out there. California recently enacted legislation that will impose penalties running up to $250 per call for needless 911 calls. Groups like NENA have begun publicly rebuking politicians who attempt to divert 911 funding to other purposes.

And some of the victims of 911 failures are turning their tragedies into crusades. Among them is Michael Cantrell, whose toddler accidentally strangled in a soccer net. Cantrell's wife called 911, but the operator could not, or simply would not, tell her how to perform CPR. Together with Nathan Lee, Cantrell has launched a campaign for a minimum training standard like the one required for paramedics nationwide. At the very least, our 911 operators should be willing and able to explain lifesaving procedures, warn police about weapons at a scene, and treat any child's call seriously, unless there's good reason to think it's a prank.

Maybe it's time we declared a 911 emergency. After all, what could be more urgent than making sure our national security safety net is up to the task of saving lives?




A Cry for Help
A tragic misunderstanding may have contributed to the 2006 death of Sherrill Turner, 46, who collapsed in her Detroit home. Her five-year-old son, Robert, called 911 twice. Help never came. Excerpts from the tape:

Robert: My mom has passed out.

Dispatcher: Where's Mr. Turner at?

Robert: Right here.

Dispatcher: Let me speak to him.

Robert: She's not gonna talk.

Dispatcher: Okay, well, I'm going to send the police to your house and find out what's going on with you …

Three hours later, Robert tried again.

Robert: My mom has passed out in her room.

Dispatcher: Where's the grown-up at?

Robert: In her room.

Dispatcher: Let me speak to her before I send the police over there.

Robert: She's not gonna talk.

Dispatcher: Okay, well, you know what? Then she's gonna talk to the police because I'm sending them over there.

Robert: [Inaudible]

Dispatcher: I don't care. You shouldn't be playing on the phone. Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there … and you're going to be in trouble.

Robert's mother, who suffered from an enlarged heart, was dead by the time police arrived. The first operator appealed her termination and is back on the job answering calls.



3 Things You Can Do
DON'T BE THE PROBLEM Call 911 only in true emergencies. Remind children that the punishment for a prank 911 call is serious.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE Find out how you can help Nathan Lee fight for change—and get involved in your own state—by visiting the foundation he started in his wife's memory (www.DeniseAmberLee.org).

SPEAK UP Is your state diverting 911 funds for other purposes? Find the number for your state legislator (votesmart.org) and call to find out. Does your area have training standards for 911 operators? If it doesn't, ask local officials why.

Fathers who lost loved ones work to change 911 system

I'm hoping if you click the link you'll be able to see the TV news that aired. Somehow, we missed it. I'm so proud of you, Nathan.

link: http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/localnews/news8/stories/wfaa090612_ac_911changes.72f3a756.html


11:19 AM CDT on Friday, June 12, 2009

By SHELLY SLATER / WFAA-TV


When you call 911 you expect help, but there are no federal standards for training 911 dispatchers.

Now a Collin County man who blames the 911 system, in part, for his son's death is asking why not?

Michael Cantrell is teaming up with a new friend who knows his pain.

Nathan Lee's wife, Denise, was kidnapped and murdered in Florida.

She called 911 and so did a witness, but the call was never dispatched. Police never knew she needed help.

Tragedy brought the two fathers together.

Cantrell's son, Matthew, accidentally hanged himself in their backyard soccer net.

The family's call to 911 heeded little help.

Dispatchers gave no medical advice and then transferred the call, wasting precious minutes they believe could have saved their son.

"We've kind of built a long distance friendship over the last couple of months," Lee says of Cantrell.

And now, with the same motivations, the two men are pushing for federal standards for 911 operators.

"Like federal air traffic controllers, it's a federal mandating thing, but for some reason 911 isn't," Lee said.

"It's not magic," says Cantrell, "when you call 911 that everything is going to go smoothly."

The men are appealing to the federal level to create a uniform 911 system.

Currently, regulations can vary by state, even by county.

Lee says that's not good enough.

"In my eyes you truly are the first line of defense for homeland security," Lee told a group of emergency professionals. .

From better training to better equipment, the hope is to eliminate error.

"We all live in the bubbles," Cantrell said. "Until tragedy can strike you and your life is forever changed."

Cantrell misses his son Matthew every minute, but now he's redirecting that energy for change.

"It's more ammo for the fire to say this is why we're doing this," Lee says, "let's rally around and make it happen."

And together these new friends and partners say they will, step by step.

Thursday's Murphy Monitor

added edit:

God bless Michael and Ave Cantrell with much love and peace. I can't imagine their pain and suffering. Please, I'm not sure how I feel about prayers sometimes, but if you're a praying person, please pray for this family. If you are not praying person? Please send them as many postive uplifting thoughts as you can. They have a young family to raise. They need your love and support. My heart, which is already broken to pieces, breaks for them. Thank you. I feel this family's pain. I understand innately what this man is saying. He just doesn't want this to happen to another family. Losing a child or any loved one violently and through tragic circumstances is heartbreaking enough. To know they could have been saved is, yes, emotional torture of the worst kind.















Suit filed following child's strangulation death

Family wants standards set for 911 first responders

by Jamie Engle
Staff writer news@csmediatexas.com

In October 2007, 21 month old Matthew Cantrell accidentally strangled himself in a backyard soccer net. Last week, the boy's father, Michael Cantrell, filed a federal lawsuit naming the City of Murphy and the East Texas Medical Center as defendants due to what Cantrell called their "complete failure to try to save a 21 month old boy."

"My goal is to make sure someone who calls 911 receives the proper help, the proper response from the 911 operator," he said. "First responders should help the injured child or person and provide medical care. We're doing this so another family does not have to endure what we're going through."

When Matthew's mother called 911, the suit alleges the 911 operator did not instruct her how to administer CPR, nor did the East Texas Medical Center when she was transferred to them, nor the first responders on the scene, two Murphy police officers, administer first aid.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Cantrell said he felt he had two options: do nothing or do something to help prevent this from happening again. Cantrell said he has never before been involved in a lawsuit and that it was a long process occurring over a long period of time. While researching, he said he found some things disturbing, such as the fact that following nationwide 911 procedures is optional at the state level.

There are two main changes Cantrell is seeking. First, he wants to see that people get the help they need over the phone when they call 911.

Second, Cantrell wants to ensure that first responders, even if they are not EMTs, are going to help an injured person. He plans to begin at the local level, then state and nationwide.

"I'm driven and will make sure that people know and learn the appropriate response to learn and do. I would think that anybody who enters a home and sees an injured child would try to help an injured child, no matter who they are and especially a police officer whose job it is to protect and serve," he said. "We want to get the message out that something has to be done to make sure this doesn't happen to another family. A lot of work has already been done. This is the beginning of being able to make change in a lot of different areas."

One of the first changes Cantrell was able to effect was the recall of the backyard soccer net, recalled by the Consumer Safety Commission in September 2008.

"You think about it, most any job you have to be certified, qualified, trained etc., and it is just about bizarre that such a critical job doesn't require a set of mandatory training and skills and test or evaluation for competency before and someone is given such a critical role that can be the difference between life or death," Cantrell said.

"We're going to be working with the 911 national training system called NENA as part of our calls (sic) to make sure those national standards are known and followed everywhere," he said. "For medical emergency phone calls, operators need to be knowledgeable and follow those protocols."

NENA is the National Emergency Number Association. They are having a conference in Fort Worth in June.

Cantrell is joining with the Denise Amber Lee organization to lobby for change. Despite four different 911 calls, Nathan Lee's wife Denise was abducted in broad daylight then assaulted and murdered. The case was on "20/20" and Nathan has been on "Dr. Phil" and spoken in other cities.

"We've talked multiple times. And he, like me, is very driven to make sure what happened doesn't happen to someone else. We'll meet for the first time face-to-face in Fort Worth at the NENA conference.

"He's dedicated his life to making sure that this doesn't happen to someone else, that 911 call centers are reformed to make sure that, nationwide, when somebody picks up the phone and calls with a medical emergency, or for that matter an abduction or whatever else happens, that things are handled properly to make sure that people receive the proper medical care, proper police care or whatever happens in his situation."

A 911 reform bill in Florida in Lee's wife's name was recently passed. The mission of the Denise Amber Lee organization is, "to raise awareness of 911 call center inefficiencies, promote improvements to 911 call centers, and offer assistance to families of murder victims," according to the organization's Web site.

The site continues "Currently, most states have no kind of standards set for the training of 911 dispatchers. Although Florida is making an effort (a bill for 911 reform was recently passed in Denise's name), it is still considered a voluntary measure to participate in the training standards. We would like to see proper training become mandatory, not voluntary. We'd like to learn from the mistakes made, move forward and fix the inadequacies. 911 is here to save lives, and when it doesn't because of confusion and procedural breakdowns, that is unacceptable.

"We need to restore confidence in the 911 system. That is the most important thing. 911 operators and dispatchers should be praised for doing their job correctly. Not everyone can handle the high stress conditions of the job. God bless all the 911 operators out there who care and are working so hard to do their job and keep us all safe. May God give them the strength and guidance needed to do their job to the best of their ability."

"You can only deal with what's ahead of you, or try to at this point, and make sure it doesn't happen again," Cantrell concluded.