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911 EMS Dispatch System Crashes Six Times In One Day
By
Lauren Evans
Published Jul 23, 2013
Modified Jul 23, 2013
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Jul 23, 2013
Modified Jul 23, 2013
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The city's 911 call system, currently undergoing a $2 billion overhaul, blipped offline at least six times yesterday for a total of 90 minutes.
Officials in the past have staunchly denied any delays caused by the system's failures, but FDNY spokesperson Frank Gribbon admitted to the Times that yes, yesterday's multiple crashes "slowed response time somewhat."
The first outage began at 7:38 a.m., with the others occurring intermittently throughout the day. The problem was said to have been remedied by Monday night, though Gribbon said he's unsure what caused the issue.
The EMS dispatch system is around 30 years old, and will be replaced in 2015 as part of a comprehensive 911 system overhaul. Not that it will necessarily help: The NYPD's new emergency dispatch system, called ICAD, promptly crashed several times on the first day of its May launch. Some speculate the new system was responsible for the demise of 4-year-old Ariel Russo, whose death has been attributed to the failure of the 911 system to properly dispatch an ambulance to save her.
In addition to yesterday's technical troubles, two 911 operators reportedly became sick, both having collapsed while at work at the city’s main call center at MetroTech.
Tagged
911 system
emergency response time
Lauren Evans
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