911 Operator hangs up on dying ladies son.

[Sooner24]

DETROIT – A 5-year-old boy called 911 to report that his mother had collapsed in their apartment, but an operator told him he should not be playing on the phone, and she died before help arrived.

The family of Sherrill Turner, 46, does not know whether a swifter response could have saved her life, but relatives want to know why the operator apparently treated the call as if it were a prank.

Police said the 911 response was under investigation.

Ms. Turner's son, Robert, placed two calls to 911 after his mother collapsed Feb. 20 on the kitchen floor. During one of the calls, an operator said: "You shouldn't be playing on the phone."

In a tape of the call, parts of which were broadcast by Detroit-area television stations, the operator said: "Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you gonna be in trouble."

Delaina Patterson, the eldest of Ms. Turner's 10 children, said police did not arrive until three hours later. She said only Robert and his mother were home at the time.

Detroit police spokesman James Tate said the 911 operator remains on the job during the investigation.



The part that really gets me is she is still on the job. :eek:

[BajaOklahoma]

The call was made on Feb 20th. I agree the operator should have been put of leave during the investigation, though she is probably being so careful right now that she might be the most helpful one.

A 5 year old kid is either a Kindergartner or will be a Kindergartner next Fall, depending on his birthdate. The communication abilities of this age group varies widely, from barely able to speak to very well-spoken.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

911 operators should never assume anything. My nephew is 5 and he knows in an emergency to call 911.

Stupid yainch needs a new job.

[yermom]

Either they don't know; don't show; or care about what's going on in the hood.

i get the feeling it was in a neighborhood they wouldn't want to go to

[StoopTroup]

I thought Micheal Moore said Detriot and the surrounding areas where all ghost towns?

[Scott D]

I thought Micheal Moore said DetrOIt and the surrounding areas where all ghost towns?

Why would anyone listen to a Hutt from Flint? Which pretty much IS a ghost town. The kid was 6, and the news broke on the nightly news on Thursday night. So far as I know the matter is under investigation, and the family is considering a lawsuit against that particular operator.

[StoopTroup]

I lived in Detriot from 1967 to 1970 as a kid.

They had a really wonderful riot there then.

http://www.67riots.rutgers.edu/d_index.htm

So I spell it Detriot

[sooneron]

Hit me
Going, going, gone
Now I dialed 911 a long time ago
Don't you see how late they're reactin'
They only come and they come when they wanna
So get the morgue embalm the goner
They don't care 'cause they stay paid anyway
They teach ya like an ace they can't be betrayed
I know you stumble with no use people
If your life is on the line they you're dead today
Late comings with the late comin' stretcher
That's a body bag in disguise y'all betcha
I call 'em body snatchers quick they come to fetch ya?
With an autopsy ambulance just to dissect ya
They are the kings 'cause they swing amputation
Lose your arms, your legs to them it's compilation
I can prove it to you watch the rotation
It all adds up to a funky situation
So get up get, get get down
911 is a joke in yo town
Get up, get, get, get down
Late 911 wears the late crown

911 is a joke

Everyday they don't never come correct
You can ask my man right here with the broken neck
He's a witness to the job never bein' done
He would've been in full in 8 9-11
Was a joke 'cause they always jokin'
They the token to your life when it's croakin'
They need to be in a pawn shop on a
911 is a joke we don't want 'em
I call a cab 'cause a cab will come quicker
The doctors huddle up and call a flea flicker
The reason that I say that 'cause they
Flick you off like fleas
They be laughin' at ya while you're crawlin' on your knees
And to the strength so go the length
Thinkin' you are first when you really are tenth
You better wake up and smell the real flavor
Cause 911 is a fake life saver

So get up, get, get get down
911 is a joke in yo town
Get up, get, get, get down
Late 911 wears the late crown

Ow, ow 911 is a joke

[Scott D]

yeah, let me get started on calling Oklahoma a dust bowl then, because ya know...it was dustbowly once upon a time :rolleyes:

[StoopTroup]

yeah, let me get started on calling Oklahoma a dust bowl then, because ya know...it was dustbowly once upon a time :rolleyes:
We are trying for a comeback right now...:D

http://www.odl.state.ok.us/usinfo/maps/dustbowl/

[OUTromBoNado]

About 10 years ago, when I was a freshman in high school, I had a seizure at school. Now, I wasn't fully coherent when I came out of it. I had hit my head when I fell, and they were trying to get me immobilzed on the backboard in case I had head trauma.

I started fighting the paramedics (still not coherent). I broke the restraints on the backboard. The gave me valium but it didn't faze me. I was told later the EMT (even though he sort of knew me) assumed I was on drugs. He started yelling at me in front of the whole school asking me what drugs I took. Even though my mother, my teacher, and a friend of mine that was a First Responder explained to him about my epileptic history. He still kept yelling me.

One of my cousins is a 911 operator/EMT and heard the call. A couple of days later she tore the guy a new a**hole for making a baseless assumption like that. I ran into the guy at a football game a couple of weeks later. He tried to defend himself and his accusation. I called him a "F***ing a**hole" to his face and reminded him that as an EMT you should listen to the patient's mother when they know their medical history like that.

Stupid sh** like this is what gets people killed. It doesn't matter if the kid was playing a prank or not. You never pull that stuff. That operator needs to get her a** fired. You always treat it like a real call...if the police get there and find out that is what a prank...let them handle it from there.

If I was the deceased's family, I'd be suing the chit out of someone.

[sanantoniosooner]

About 10 years ago, when I was a freshman in high school, I had a seizure at school. Now, I wasn't fully coherent when I came out of it. I had hit my head when I fell, and they were trying to get me immobilzed on the backboard in case I had head trauma.

I started fighting the paramedics (still not coherent). I broke the restraints on the backboard. The gave me valium but it didn't faze me. I was told later the EMT (even though he sort of knew me) assumed I was on drugs. He started yelling at me in front of the whole school asking me what drugs I took. Even though my mother, my teacher, and a friend of mine that was a First Responder explained to him about my epileptic history. He still kept yelling me.

One of my cousins is a 911 operator/EMT and heard the call. A couple of days later she tore the guy a new a**hole for making a baseless assumption like that. I ran into the guy at a football game a couple of weeks later. He tried to defend himself and his accusation. I called him a "F***ing a**hole" to his face and reminded him that as an EMT you should listen to the patient's mother when they know their medical history like that.

Stupid sh** like this is what gets people killed. It doesn't matter if the kid was playing a prank or not. You never pull that stuff. That operator needs to get her a** fired. You always treat it like a real call...if the police get there and find out that is what a prank...let them handle it from there.

If I was the deceased's family, I'd be suing the chit out of someone.
so......were you on the cream or the clear?

[Penguin]

Damn it...always too late. :mad:

[OUTromBoNado]

so......were you on the cream or the clear?

Dude, I can't remember. I took so much stuff that day.

[Scott D]

Oh, Monday morning a wrongful death lawsuit will be filed.

[yermom]

that really sucks. have they released the tape yet?

[Ike]

On the one hand, there are kids that crank call 911. usually just once. There are pretty stiff penalties for doing so, justifiably, as it really does put an undue strain on already scarce resources.

on the other hand, just because you think a call might be a prank, as a 911 operator, I think you should err on the side of caution and get the responders out there. If it turns out to actually be a prank, thats what the stiff penalties are for, and you just made the city some money.

or something like that.

[Scott D]

that really sucks. have they released the tape yet?

I've heard the conversation about 10 times in the past few days. The family is trying to get info from the PD, and the PD isn't being very forthcoming in regards to info about the particular 911 operator.

[StoopTroup]

Oh, Monday morning a wrongful death lawsuit will be filed.
Your psychic...:D

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/04/10/911.call.ap/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

[yermom]

next time, have Fluffy do it

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2005-12-31-cat-called-911_x.htm

[Scott D]

hate to dredge up this thread again, but there is another woman pursuing a lawsuit against the city for ironically the SAME 911 Operator. This woman was shot in the head and called 911 to be told that she wouldn't be able to call 911 if she was shot in the head and to get off the phone and put someone else on the phone. She called twice with those results. She's currently wheelchair bound (the matter in question happened months ago).

[proud gonzo]

goddamn--i hope that lady has a heart attack and then gets shot in the head and has her 911 call ignored by some bastard operator.