Not believing a child - 911

[Leetahkin]

The mother's death could have been avoided if the dispatchers had done their jobs. So tragic for the child.

911 Death Suit (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006604100335)

There's a link on that website to hear both actual 911 calls from the boy.

[DeV]

That is horrible. It seems to me that you would stay on the safe side and not consider the call a prank, especially if the child is saying one of his parents has passed out and cannot get to the phone. I remember as a kid when you'd call 911 and hang up they'd send someone over if you didn't answer on the call back. The fact that he said his mom was passed out should have indicated something out of the ordinary. There was alot of confusion in the questions and answers during the couse of both 911 calls. I think, ultimately, the dispatcher screwed up big time.

[Rowi]

911 offices also add numbers of a list of repeat offenders, or calls from homes, i mean maybe the kid was chicken little three or ten times before, i dunno................but id still send someone!

[Jonty]

Kid: "My mom passed out"
dispatcher: "Can you put her on the phone?"

:wtf:

[Kuyuk]

I kinda would like to see them file for something crazy like manslaughter or something. Not sure which insane charge would best fit it.


K.

[Jazuela]

Man, don't these dispatchers need to pass some kind of test before they're hired?

"Where's Mr. Turner at?"

At? Where's he "at?" Who taught this guy how to speak English? The other dispatcher did the same thing - only worse "where's the grown-ups at?" Does he not know that "where's" means "where is?" And that grown-ups are plural, and that he should've asked "Where ARE the grown-ups?"

If they can't even talk to an english-speaking kid, in an english-speaking country, in english, how can they possibly be expected to be competent at communicating? Communication, afterall, is the *primary* function of a 911 dispatcher. If they can't communicate properly, then they have no business serving in that role.

Next thing you know it, you'll hear 911 operators saying they "wanna axe you a question." Lousy standards equals lousy service. Raise the standards and you'll get more competent service.

If it sounds like I'm nit-picky, maybe so. But only if you consider that the standards of hiring people for communications jobs are SO low, that any improvement is nitpicky. If they're brought up learning to speak so deplorably, you have to assume they're lacking in other communications skills. Like, recognizing that you're talking with a CHILD on the phone who needs to be asked the right questions. Which, obviously, they didn't or they'd have sent someone over immediately.

[Bobmuhthol]

I think we all know how to speak English, Jazuela, thank you.

It was clearly a black woman answering. She speaks English in her native, English-speaking country. Where the fuck do you get the idea that English is not her first language?

Also, blame affirmative action, not blacks, for the subpar English spoken by a black dispatcher. Clearly, the person doing the job is not the best for the position.

[Daniel]

because I'm sure the job pays so well they can require such standards.

[Jorddyn]

Man, don't these dispatchers need to pass some kind of test before they're hired?

"Where's Mr. Turner at?"


Our recently promoted rather dingy 20-something "director of marketing" was telling me the other day how she was teaching her 3 year old nephew to speak proper sentences. The child had asked "Where's mom?", to which dingbat taught him to properly ask "Where's mom at?"

:axe:

On topic: Dispatcher is a dumbass.

Jorddyn

[Apotheosis]

This happened in Detroit. This is not the first time this has happened. Geoffrey Fieger is pursuing a multi-million dollar lawsuit (which should totally happen).

I can't even imagine WTF the dispatcher was thinking, but you can pretty much guarantee that his/her career is over.

[SayGoodbye]

I would imagine what really gets people pissed is listening to the audio. One of the operaters actually scolds him and tells him he's going to get in trouble until finally he just gives this frustrated sigh and hangs up. Poor kid had to watch his mother die while being scolded for calling 911.

[Stanley Burrell]

I have never seen one episode of The Today Show and I also hope that a substantial chunk of soon-to-be lawsuit earnings goes into the literating of emergency dispatch personal.

[Jazuela]

I think we all know how to speak English, Jazuela, thank you.

It was clearly a black woman answering. She speaks English in her native, English-speaking country. Where the fuck do you get the idea that English is not her first language?

Also, blame affirmative action, not blacks, for the subpar English spoken by a black dispatcher. Clearly, the person doing the job is not the best for the position.

Uh, I never said I didn't think English was her first language. But even people born and raised in the states are *taught* to speak, whether they're taught English or some other language. I blame whoever taught her - white, black, whatever. After that, I blame the schools for lowering standards for education. But primarily, I blame whoever taught her to talk in the first place. Piss-poor speaking habits like that are learned when you're very young.

[Alfster]

Man, don't these dispatchers need to pass some kind of test before they're hired?

"Where's Mr. Turner at?"

At? Where's he "at?" Who taught this guy how to speak English? The other dispatcher did the same thing - only worse "where's the grown-ups at?" Does he not know that "where's" means "where is?" And that grown-ups are plural, and that he should've asked "Where ARE the grown-ups?"

If they can't even talk to an english-speaking kid, in an english-speaking country, in english, how can they possibly be expected to be competent at communicating? Communication, afterall, is the *primary* function of a 911 dispatcher. If they can't communicate properly, then they have no business serving in that role.

Next thing you know it, you'll hear 911 operators saying they "wanna axe you a question." Lousy standards equals lousy service. Raise the standards and you'll get more competent service.

If it sounds like I'm nit-picky, maybe so. But only if you consider that the standards of hiring people for communications jobs are SO low, that any improvement is nitpicky. If they're brought up learning to speak so deplorably, you have to assume they're lacking in other communications skills. Like, recognizing that you're talking with a CHILD on the phone who needs to be asked the right questions. Which, obviously, they didn't or they'd have sent someone over immediately.

Oh come on now, you're just being silly (and racist as hell).

If someone asked you, "Where's Mr. Turner at?" You should be able to answer taht, even though it's not "proper english".

Blame the parents, blame the schools...blame the chick for not caring enough to learn it properly? Why doens't anyone seem to blame the person for fuckin up, but instead blame it on the schools.


But then again, Burger King is the place to be working if you can speak proper English.....

[Skirmisher]

Normally I might agree with you Alfter and blame the individual answering the phone for screwing up but this case is different.

We have two different people both messing up the same way on the same incident.

One would be a tragic mistake, but two so close together and both so similar to each other tell me that changes need to be made to recruiting/training and standard operating procedures in those call centers.

[Sean of the Thread]

Uh, I never said I didn't think English was her first language. But even people born and raised in the states are *taught* to speak, whether they're taught English or some other language. I blame whoever taught her - white, black, whatever. After that, I blame the schools for lowering standards for education. But primarily, I blame whoever taught her to talk in the first place. Piss-poor speaking habits like that are learned when you're very young.


You're a dumb bitch.

[Daniel]

Welcome to 2 years ago X

[Skirmisher]

Stay on topic pretty please all.

[Caiylania]

That is truly a tragedy. This is stuff the media ought to get riled over.

[Caiylania]

This was a good read I agree with.. a bit OT but written in response to the 911 fiasco.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060411/NEWS01/604110312

[DeV]

Good article, Caiy.

To add, I do not blame affirmative action for any role in this woman's inability to ascertain what the little boy was trying to say. The bar is not set very high from square one as far as job requirements go. Human resources may be in dire need of an overhaul if dispatchers are frequently responding to assumed prank calls in that manner.

[Stanley Burrell]

DETROIT, WHAT!? (June 7) - Two 911 dispatchers who authorities say wrongly assumed it was a prank when a 5-year-old boy called to report that his mother had collapsed have been charged with neglect of duty.

By the time an officer arrived, the boy's 46-year-old mother was dead.

"I understand they get a quite a few crank calls, but you have to take it seriously when someone calls 911," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Wednesday in announcing charges against Sharon Nichols, 43, and Terri Sutton, 47.

They could get a year in jail if convicted of the misdemeanor.

Worthy said the mother, Sherrill Turner, might be alive today had the dispatchers done their jobs correctly.

The president of the dispatchers' union did not immediately return a call for comment.

Robert Turner, now 6, called 911 twice on Feb. 20 to report that his mother had collapsed and needed medical care, but "neither operator treated this as an emergency," the prosecutor said.


No police car was sent after Nichols took the first call. The boy called again three hours later, and Sutton reacted by sending police out to discipline the child and inform the parent that the youngster was dialing 911, Worthy said.

Attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who defended assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city on behalf of the family. Fieger said Robert's mother, who had an enlarged heart, would have survived if help had been sent immediately.

After police investigated, Nichols received a five-day suspension, and Sutton received three days. Both have returned to work, Worthy said.

The prosecutor refused to say if the two should have been fired, but added, "They should not be taking 911 calls."