Mother dies when 911 call goes unanswered

In our city the crime reporting number was disconnected last year, and switched entirely to 911. It doesn't matter what type of crime it is - if your neighbor's cat is digging in your flowers, if your car is stolen, ALL calls are to be made to 911. Not only has this cut down on speed of response (it was done ostensibly to save money), the number of crimes reported has dropped drastically. Most people know that 911 is for emergencies only, regardless of the numbskulls in our city hall. The cops are now having fits because the drop in reported crime is going to affect their funding! Meanwhile, there is still no easy way to report minor crimes in our city. Ridiculous, huh?

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Right after the girls had received the "911" talk in school (they already knew about it from me), one of them decided to test it. She hung up when someone answered. The emergency operator called right back and I apologized. She asked enough questions to be sure there was nothing wrong and I finally convinced her it was okay.

My small city has the usual financial problems; among them, funding and staffing 911 services. I've experienced a couple of brief delays getting through but I've never been put on hold as happens in some places and I've never experienced is "untrained" operator. They ask questions but they dispatch as soon as they find out if I'm asking for police, fire, ambulance, or all of the above. They are calm and professional.

I don't know enough to know where most of the blame should fall; the lack of training or the callousness of the individual. I do know there seems to be plenty to go around. It never should have happened.

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What a sad, sad story. No call to 911 should ever be treated that way. In our city, there have been a number of prank calls lately, but the police still respond to each and every one, because they never know which one will happen to be real.

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Although I think she should be fired, too, this woman is a civil service employee and is protected by her union. It is pretty rare for people to get fired on the spot, but administrative leave during the investigation should be the minimum!

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I disagree that she should be on administrative leave, she should be in jail. At a minimum she should be charged with child endangerment. If they can proove that the mom was still alive at the time the call was placed she should be charged with second degree murder (reckless disregard for human life). The operator choses to be a 911 operator and should be held to a higher standard. Although if I walked past a person bleeding to death and failed to stop/get assistance I would expect to be imprisoned as well.

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"Because of her years of sevice she will not be fired?"

WTH! How many other people has she killed by inaction that we don't know about?

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This reminds me of just last week there was a car that had run off the road and flipped upside down, I called 911 and it rang several times and no answer. So I called again and no answer. There were a few people that stopped to help, good thing because there ws no answer at 911.

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I saw where the union president is quoted as saying this is a veteran operator and is good at it. WELL, aren't they supposed to take all calls seriously? I mean, if u hang up on them, they send an officer. I canNOT believe this brave boy told the operator that his mom passed out and she treated him the way she did. I think it's an outrage. She should be fired in the very least. This poor boy will live with this his whole life.

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April, she didn't say she wasn't sending anyone. She said she WOULD send a cop if he didn't quit playing. Too bad she didn't. This is just despicable.

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This makes me so so sad. I read it earlier and i can't stop thinking of that little boy, being scolded for playing while his mom died. I guess I will be teaching my kids a plan B (maybe going next door?) just in case.

I really hope there is a public outcry in the community, and that she is let go. I understand that unions are hard to break into, but as a union kid (Dad worked construction all my life) if an operator killed a coworker through negligence, you can bet they were taken off the job. I can't imagine how she could WANT to stay there, knowing what she has done.

sad sad sad.

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She's still on the job because her position is a unionized one. "Firing someone on the spot" isn't that easy when a union contract is involved.

It's my understanding as well that Michigan has a minimum age (16, I believe?) to which responders are required to respond.

It's a tragic story to think this little guy had the presence of mind to call in the first place & then to call back and STILL get stuck with such a poor excuse for a dispatcher.

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