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5 Year Old's 911 call goes ignored. Lawsuit Pending.

Sun Apr 16, 2006 6:32 am

Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger said Sunday on the "Today" show that he believes a 46-year-old Detroit woman would have lived had a 911 emergency dispatcher taken seriously a call for help from her then-5-year-old son.

He said he plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the family today.

On the show, Fieger held hands with Robert Turner, now 6, as Robert recounted the Feb. 20 incident in which he called 911 twice as his mother, Sherrill Turner, lay dying from complications of an enlarged heart in their west side Detroit apartment.

There's a critical time period to save a person suffering from problems due to an enlarged heart, Fieger said. And "had they responded immediately to the first call at 6 p.m., she certainly would have survived," Fieger said.

Detroit Police did not comment on Sunday. But, in a statement Friday, Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings urged the public not to rush to judgment, saying city residents "can be assured that our department is meticulously examining every aspect of what occurred."

The incident and subsequent frustration of the boy's voice heard in the replayed 911 tapes have stirred national outrage. Detroit police officials say they have received numerous complaints from people across the metro area and the country. Fieger said he plans to hold a news conference today at 11 a.m. at his Southfield law office to announce the filing of a suit.

According to the recording, when Robert -- who was alone with his mother -- first called 911 about 6 p.m., an operator asked him to bring an adult to the phone. Robert told the operator he couldn't.

At one point, "She hanged up on me," Robert said Friday. The recording indicates the dispatcher hung up after saying she would send police to the home. They did not arrive.

Robert called back about 9 p.m. And another operator told him: "You shouldn't be playing on the phone. ...Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you going to be in trouble."

Robert said he was scared and hung up the phone. The child could be heard saying "Ugh," after that last comment from the 911 operator.

Kimberly Harris, a 911 operator and president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1023 union, said Sunday that different dispatchers handled the two emergency calls.

A police squad car, not EMS, eventually responded to the call, but it was too late for Sherrill Turner. It was not clear at what point she died or whether she was alive when Robert made the first call.

"Today" played both calls Sunday.

"In general, this indicates an endemic problem," Fieger said. "There's a discounting of children. Robert did exactly what he was taught to do. And if we're concerned in the United States about the welfare of children, as I know we all are, we better be concerned when they call to ask for help as much as anybody else."

Robert, in a shirt and tie and seated between Fieger and his older sister, Delaina Patterson, explained that his mother taught him to call 911 in case of an emergency.

Of the operator who took at least one of the calls, he said: "She thought I was playing on the phone."


Source- http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... BUSINESS07

Sun Apr 16, 2006 12:22 pm

But, in a statement Friday, Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings urged the public not to rush to judgment, saying city residents "can be assured that our department is meticulously examining every aspect of what occurred."


Hard not to "rush to judgement" when this happened:

According to the recording, when Robert -- who was alone with his mother -- first called 911 about 6 p.m., an operator asked him to bring an adult to the phone. Robert told the operator he couldn't.

At one point, "She hanged up on me," Robert said Friday. The recording indicates the dispatcher hung up after saying she would send police to the home. They did not arrive.

Robert called back about 9 p.m. And another operator told him: "You shouldn't be playing on the phone. ...Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you going to be in trouble."

Robert said he was scared and hung up the phone. The child could be heard saying "Ugh," after that last comment from the 911 operator.


I know there's a problem with prank calls to emergency, and if anything a situation like this makes them look like an even bigger problem. But at the same time, treating any call as just another prank is a dangerous risk an emergency switchboard can't afford to take. If you discount urgency and fear in a child's voice and chalk it up to them playing a prank, maybe that's not the occupation you should be in.

Harsh as it sounds, I personally believe the two operators should be severely punished, perhaps even suspended or fired. I know, mistakes happen and an absolute zero-tolerance policy as far as mistakes are concerned makes for a hostile workplace. But how many of these mistakes can they be allowed to make? With their attitudes it would seem likely to happen again, even in the wake of this incident.

Sun Apr 16, 2006 12:26 pm

Wow......It seems hard for operators to trust a 5 year old....

Sun Apr 16, 2006 12:42 pm

See, this is the reason I never prank call 911. everyone else yeah, but never that.

Sun Apr 16, 2006 5:12 pm

Ridiculous. Fire them. You send a Para or whatever right away just in case. If it is a prank call, then somebody on the calling end gets punished.

Sun Apr 16, 2006 5:47 pm

I dont think just firing them would be enough. Troubling story here.

Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:08 pm

I really can't see the family losing the lawsuit and while that won't bring the mother back, it will offer some compensation, hopefully on top of disciplinary action taken against both operators.

Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:32 pm

Oh,man thats just sad :(

Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:36 pm

Now, before I loaded this thread I saw that Pera had the last post... so I thought "I bet this is some 4 word post which is either completely generic and predictable, or just repeats what 5 or 6 other people have already said" and what do you know, I've won again.

Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:38 pm

Those operators now have the weight of knowing that they more or less killed that lady. Can they be charged for some form of murder?

Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:42 pm

Negligence, perhaps. I think the civil suit will go in the family's favour but I don't think they're personally held accountable in that.

Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:41 am

Well the kid's only 6 right now... but 10-15 years down the road, that boy is going to develop some strong hatred for the police. This is going to have some serious ramifications on the boy's future and his development.
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