6-year old calls 911; dispatcher thinks it's a joke
 

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4739612

It's horrible... Regardless if it was a prank or not, they should've taken it seriously.

She has a dead person on her consciounce, that should be all the punishments she needs for the rest of her life.

Disgusting. There's no other words for it. I just can't believe this kid wasn't taken seriously.

Wouldn't like to be in the operators shoes right now I can tell ya.

Thanks for not thanking me, Chao, :(

And yes, that's a shame. The lady deserves to be fired.

An investigation is underway in Detroit after a six-year-old boy called 911 to get help for his mom.

I can understand why she thought it was a joke but still, it's horrible.

Well, to be fair, they must have a process for distinguishing prank calls, and this poor little boy must have sounded a lot like a prankster. Don't get me wrong, I think it's shocking that a woman died even after the emergency services were called, but I don't believe that the woman responsible deserves to be fired for it. Disciplined, yes, and given a hell of a telling-off, but not the loss of her job.

That's awful. Fuck years of service. That lady deserves to get eaten. Hope that family wins zillions of dollars.

That's sad :(....Kids grow up with their parents telling them always call 911 incase of an emergency.....but when one actually arises, the dispatcher won't take the kid seriously. That is just plain sad. It sort of goes back to a few bad apples ruin the whole bunch scenario. Just because some phone calls are pranks, doesn't mean they all are. That lady diserves to be fired, who cares if she has senority. Who knows....this may happen again....

This also sort of reminds me of that saturday night live skit. The one that was a parody on Emergency 911....but I wouldn't have thought that dispatchers would be that stupid and careless in real life...but this just proves it...

I think it matters more if the mother died because of not getting help faster or was she already dead?

What exactly is this experience? Being able to discern if a call is a prank or not?

What the hell? She's not going to get fired? I just hope the jury gives her a long prison sentence so even if she isn't fired, she wouldn't be able to work anyway. That's just ridiculous.

WHAT THE ****!?!?!? That woman should have been fired for ignoring that child's cry for help!!!

It's Detroit.

This is very reassuring, seeing as how I will probably be moving down there really soon. :(

That was a very horrible thing to do. She should of never done that and was in the wrong for what she did.

However, you all must realize 911 is flooded with prank calls and useless traffic from people all the time. It's a serious problem because it has gotten to the point where real calls are delayed because some idiot is calling 911 for directions to a bar.

So it isn't just her at fault here. The populace is at fault as well because too many people are not using 911 for what it's designed for. Because of this operators are forced to find out if it's real or not and quickly hang up. That way real calls can get through.

People need to be educated and there needs to be harsh punishments for not using 911 properly. The dispatchers need to be taught better methods at finding fakes as well.


It's more like a ton of bad apples ruining the whole bunch. >.>

Jury? Prison sentence? It hasn't gotten to that yet. I don't think it ever will actually.

Pretty Much. Too bad many people would rather not think of that and would rather have the operator be blamed completely. Go America!!!

She'll have a guilty consciounce, We all know that.

On a personal note:

I remember calling 911 when I was 7 because my mom had some strange tumor or something that made her faint while making lunch. It sorta freaked me out but she told me to call dispatch when she regained conciousness. I just said my mom was sick and stuff, and I handed the phone over to her. About 10 minutes later EMS arrived.

Basically, yeah, I would have an idea of the frustration these operators face. It's really up to the discrepancy of the operator, but what should have been done is that they should send the emergency crews there then if it is indeed fake, then the emergency crews could settle for a lawsuit to get back the fees of dispatching emergency crew out. From what my school principal said in high school, it's about $1500 for each time the fire bell is rang, either accidentally or "This time for serious". I don't know the "fees" for dispatching an ambulance or police, but I'm guessing about $500.

Do you guys know how many 911 calls are not even for real, though. Kids call 911 illegitimately all the time. And then there's even adults who think 911 is pretty much the universal number fo the fire department, hospital, and police department. I mean, people will just up and call 911 if they have to file a police report. A good number of 911 calls aren't emergencies, and operators probably deal with such bullshit more often than important stuff.

I bet the sheer number of calls the operator has handled properly stands up well against this single failure. Shit happens. As long as it isn't chronic then I don't think it's a huge deal. Sad, yes, but still.

This kid doesn't even sound series on the phone.

Yeah, I was projecting into the future since the family is seeking a lawsuit. But yeah, it might not even get that far. =\

No excuse. She should have been fired.

One day, karma will get her. And the irony then will be just plain funny :).

That's really sad though, she should at least be fired if not sued.

Please tell me how you'd distingush a fake call from a real one then.

1.Keep in mind that a lot of people constantly prank phone call 911

2.The kid called and wasn't even panicking, which could potentially be a prank phone call.

3.It's Detroit.

Damn, man...just....damn....