dispatch firegeezer on 28 Jun 2008 12:08 pm
Patient Dies After Dropped Dispatch
TUSCALOOSA COUNTY, ALABAMA, EMERGENCY OFFICIALS admit that there was a major delay in a medical dispatch that could have been a factor in a teen’s death Thursday night.
The county’s emergency medical calls are handled by American Medical Response ambulances stationed in the city of Tuscaloosa and the rural VFD’s are also sent as 1st responders to treat the victim until the ambulance arrives. But on Thursday night the system failed.
When the parents of a 15-yr.-old boy who was having a seizure called 911, they were routed to the Tuscaloosa Police Dept. The PD then called AMR’s dispatcher who is located in another state, Biloxi, Mississippi. That dispatcher then sent the ambulance to the address which was at least 10 minutes away.
After dispatching the ambulance, AMR was supposed to relay the call to the county Sheriff’s Office who would then dispatch the nearest VFD. In this instance, volunteer EMT’s from the Carroll’s Creek VFD equipped with medical supplies were within a mile of the victim. But the call to the sheriff was never made. Instead, AMR sent the dispatch to the Tuscaloosa Fire & Rescue who responded on the call.
The result after all this roundabout was not good and an investigation is underway.
The Tuscaloosa News has the complete, yet confusing, story HERE.
Firegeezer wonders: What kind of system routes calls through four dispatch centers in two states before the full dispatch is completed? It’s no wonder that the call got dropped. I wonder if this has happened before, but nobody knew about it until someone finally died as a result?
on 28 Jun 2008 at 2:31 pm 1.north chief said …
Another fine citizen lost to the Ambulance Might Respond Company.
on 28 Jun 2008 at 10:45 pm 2.Patrick said …
If the citizens didn’t want their neighbors dying they wouldn’t allow their officeholders to give up oversight to companies like AMR or Rural-RhuRho. Some things should not be farmed out to the lowest bidder.
on 30 Jun 2008 at 11:43 am 3.Jennifer Garner said …
This is not the first time this has happened in Tuscaloosa County. The mother of a child that I babysat for that her husband was also a member of the same Volunteer Fire District as from this article died when she (a nurse) called 911 & the volunteers that lived less than half a mile away were never given the call!!!!!
on 30 Jun 2008 at 10:39 pm 4.Gaston said …
This has been a serious problem in Tuscaloosa County for several years. But I understand the attorneys are circuling the family in the anticipation of legal action. All the ambulance services know the policies and it is a problem that is not just occuring in Tuscaloosa County. Carroll’s Fire District is a combination department staffed with career & volunteer members that respond to 3 to 5 calls a day they have EMT/First Responders 24 hrs a day. They were on the scene within 3 mins after being dispatched to this call, the average ambulance responce time is 15 to 20 mins. CCFD, like all depts in Tusc Co, get along well with the local ambulance services/crews.
on 05 Jul 2008 at 10:20 pm 5.Jay said …
I dispatch for a large city in Kansas that has chosen to use AMR for ambulance services. We reiceve the 911 call and if it is a medical press a button and it goes to AMR in Independence, Missouri then we forget about it until they page it back to us and they tell us if we should go.