An Anne Arundel County 911 operator has been reassigned after telling the daughter of a man who'd just been hit by a car on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway Sunday night to "stop whining" as she frantically pleaded for help.
The man later died.
The operator has since been placed in a position where he won't have any contact with the public, said county fire department spokesman Capt. Russ Davies. An investigation into the call is underway.
"The 911 dispatchers are trained to take control when they get a hysterical caller," Davies said. "However, he certainly used a poor choice of words. That 911 call did not meet our expectations of how we wanted that call handled and it didn't meet the public's expectations of how that call should have been handled."
Davies did not identify the operator.
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Hearing the audio on the news, yes, she was whining, yes, he was having difficulty acquiring information from the caller.
ReplyDeleteHe could have handled it differently - but a different method would most likely not have had a quicker outcome due to the caller.....sometimes, you need to shock people to come back to a workable reality!
He should not be disciplined for what he did - the best he could under the circumstances.
Wrong. Instant termination. More to police and fire/ems then that. Compassion is needed. The operator knew the majority of the call already. How do you think this kid will grow to think of fire n police after that? No need for that at all.
DeleteIf you listen to the tape, the dispatcher's tone wasn't mean nor angry. While I agree, using the term whining wasn't the best choice of words, his overall tone was one of caring and concern. A better choice would have been for him to ask the young lady to calm down.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Its not what you say as much as how you say it.
DeleteOops.
ReplyDelete