Detroit - A final Comment

[Guest guest]

In the last 24 hours I have seen more than 50 reports regarding the

Detroit tragedy. The story has even gone international, appearing in

publications such as China Daily -- the only English newspaper in

China. Half the stories report the incident, but the other half are

the " can it happen here? " reports.

Every dispatch center interviewed insisted it could not, and cited

all kinds of procedural and policy reasons to support their

claim. But we know it happens. It did happen. I am sure Detroit

would have said, " no it couldn't happen here because..., " if they

were asked about the same issue before it did happen to them.

Shouldn't we all take a look at our procedures, policies, and

ourselves, so we know when we say, " it couldn't happen here. " we know

it for sure?

The following article is worth reading, though Mr. Freitag apparently

stole my earlier comments, and observations. No, I am not going to

sue, great minds just think alike But seriously, the article sums

it all up, offers some good insights, and some things to think about.

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http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060411/METRO/604110355

or

http://tinyurl.com/qhvf3

Expert: 911 rules were broken

He says operators who took child's call failed to follow script and

use professional demeanor.

Egan / The Detroit News

April 11, 2006

A national expert on emergency response says the Detroit 911

operators who took calls for help from 5-year-old broke

the first three basic rules on how to respond.

The city may need to take a hard look at the way it trains its

operators and assures quality responses to 911 calls, Freitag,

president of the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch in Salt

Lake City, said Monday.

The three most important rules in handling any 911 call, Freitag said, are:

Treat every call as legitimate until proven otherwise.

Follow a script, rather than ad-libbing a response.

Use a professional and encouraging demeanor.

" Based on what I've heard, they didn't follow those rules, " said

Freitag, who has listened to tapes of two calls placed to 911

on Feb. 20 after 's mother, Sherrill, 46, passed out.

" She made him feel from the very beginning quit bothering us. "

Freitag made his comments as Southfield lawyer Geoffrey Fieger filed

a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the unnamed city 911 operators

who took the calls and released details about another incident, in

2005, when he said a city woman could not get a dispatcher to take

her seriously after she was shot in the head.

As the stories continued to receive national attention, large numbers

of Detroiters expressed unhappiness, frustration and disgust with the

quality of response to their 911 calls.

City officials refused to comment, saying they have nothing to add to

Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings' statement Friday that an

investigation is under way and the public should not rush to judgment.

, president of the union local representing Detroit's

911 operators, could not be reached for comment.

Freitag said dispatchers have tough jobs but must treat each call as

potentially life-threatening.

Nationally, fewer than 1 percent of the more than 500,000 911 calls

placed each day are prank calls in which someone is trying to play a

trick on the operator, he said.

But the percentage of 911 calls that are bad calls, which also

includes hang-ups, misdials, and accidental activation of 911 buttons

on cellular phones, amounts to 10 percent to 15 percent, depending on

the jurisdiction, according to Freitag.

Only about 35 percent of all 911 calls are life-threatening

emergencies, he said.

Call and crank call statistics were not available Monday from Detroit

officials.

Fieger filed a lawsuit in the case in Wayne County Circuit

Court and released copies of a lawsuit he filed in another 911 case in October.

Lorraine did not die, but was left a paraplegic as a result of

poor 911 response, Fieger said.

In January 2005 called 911 from her home after she was shot in

the head and chest and operators threatened her about making a false

report, according to a 911 transcript released by Fieger.

" If you got shot in the temple, ma'am, you wouldn't be able to call

me, " a 911 operator told the woman at one point.

Many Detroiters contacted The News Monday to relate their own

complaints with 911 service.

Reginald Cunningham said when he called 911 to report his wife was

being assaulted in their driveway, the operator did not want to send

a police officer and told him to tell her to come inside.

" This is really not an isolated case, " Cunningham said.

" There is something systemically going wrong with the system. "

You can reach Egan at or pegan@....