Northwest Indiana 911 Dispatcher Fired After Rescue Sent To Wrong Home
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Northwest Indiana 911 dispatcher has been fired after a mistake led to an ambulance to the wrong house.
On Oct. 26, Kenneth Booker, 81, of Griffith, called 911 but emergency personnel were sent to the wrong block, a problem that took 50 minutes to resolve.
By then, it was too late, and the man died.
An investigation found that Natalia Deluna-Avila, a nine-year veteran, entered an incorrect address into the system, typing a "3" instead of an "8" for the street address. She also violated policy by hanging up after telling Booker that an ambulance was on the way.
Booker lived on the second floor of a building in the 800 block of Lillian Street. The paramedics were sent to the 300 block of Lillian Street.
After the ambulance arrived at the wrong home, Griffith police looked up Booker in their database and the paramedics were sent to the correct address.
Lake County 911 executive director Brian Hitchcock said the error was not due to the recent consolidation of all emergency calls to the county, rather than individual towns.
The county released recordings of the calls, made between 7:53 and 8:03 p.m.
The man states he needs help and is having trouble breathing. Sounding frustrated, Deluna-Avila says she is having a hard time understanding him.
At least three times, he gives his correct address, but Deluna-Avila re-states the address as being in the 300 block of Lillian. At one point, she re-stated the street incorrectly as William.
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"While the County has invested millions of dollars in the newest technology available, the equipment, software and radios are only one part of the equation of the emergency dispatch process," Hitchcock said.
"The duties of the position of a 911 dispatcher must be carried out flawlessly and without fail."
Hitchcock said other dispatchers are being retested to ensure "the level of accuracy meets department standards and the expectations of the general public."
In June another dispatcher was fired and another suspended when off-duty officer Burt Sanders died.
He called 911 saying he had chest pains. When paramedics responded to the church where he was working, they were cleared because they couldn't get in. His niece Carletha Sutton found him the next day.
