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911 Error Could Be To Blame For Child's Death
By
Ben Muessig
Published Feb 19, 2010
Modified Feb 19, 2010
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By
Ben Muessig
Published Feb 19, 2010
Modified Feb 19, 2010
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A six-year-old died yesterday after firefighters and paramedics were routed to 277 Avenue C in Brooklyn, instead of 277 Avenue C in Manhattan. The boy's family called 911 at 9:03 am to report their child was suffering cardiac arrest, but by the time responders arrived at the address in the proper borough 19 minutes later he had perished.
Police sources tell the Post that the "hysterical woman" who placed the first 911 call gave her address, but not her borough. The operator reportedly tried to determine the cross streets, "but the caller was too distraught to respond," the tabloid reports. At 9:10 am, medics got to the Brooklyn address. According to WCBS, they determined it was incorrect at 9:15 am and responders were dispatched in Manhattan. Around that time, dispatchers contacted the woman who made the initial call. "She said, 'I'm here, I'm here . . . he's bleeding from the nose,' and pleaded with them to hurry," a source said. The woman reportedly called 911 again at 9:16 am to confirm she was in Manhattan.
When responders arrived at the Manhattan address at 9:22 am, the child was already dead. The city's Unified Call Taking system has come under fire for incidents in which responders have been dispatched to the wrong addresses. In November, a 911 dispatcher initially sent firefighters to the wrong location in response to a deadly Woodside blaze, and firefighters were once mistakenly sent to the site of a cellular tower instead of the location of a fire last year. A police source reportedly stated that the incident was not related to past 911 dispatching problems, and an FDNY spokesman said it is "under review."
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277 avenue c
9/11
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