Emergency Dispatcher Praised For Spending Hours Trying To Track Down Stroke Victim
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - A New York City emergency dispatcher is being hailed for spending nearly eight hours on the phone with a woman who had suffered a stroke while rescuers tried to pinpoint the woman's location.
The New York Post reports dispatcher Joann Hilman-Payne took the call around 1 p.m. Monday and kept the line open until medics found the woman around 8:30 p.m.
The caller, Mary Thomas, was in an Upper East Side apartment. Hilman-Payne struggled to communicate with her because Thomas' speech was slurred, the Post reported.
But Hilman-Payne kept speaking in an effort to keep Thomas conscious.
Hilman-Payne's efforts are detailed in a letter from a dispatch captain seeking recognition for Hilman-Payne and her colleagues, according to the Post.
The call was eventually traced to the correct apartment where Thomas was working as a housekeeper. She remains hospitalized.
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