9-1-1 Error Law Suit Settled

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Des Moines Register

Published May 17, 2006

Polk, Qwest settle lawsuit over death, 911 dispatch error

When Mein had a heart attack, crews were sent to the wrong address.

By BERT DALMER

REGISTER STAFF WRITER

The family of an Ankeny man who died of a heart attack in 2003 after

paramedics were inadvertently sent to the wrong address will receive

$50,000 in a settlement with sheriff's dispatchers and the telephone company.

Maggi Moss, the attorney for the widow and children of the late

Mein, said Tuesday that the family was fortunate to get any money in

the wrongful-death lawsuit given the tangled web of laws that granted

immunity to the emergency-response system as a whole.

Polk County lawyers argued in court papers last year that state law

protects sheriff's personnel from lawsuits when their efforts do not

constitute willful neglect. Likewise, Qwest Corp. pointed to a

federal law that restricted its liability in such events. ...

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