06/09/2010 // West Palm Beach, Florida, USA // Sandra Quinlan // Sandra Quinlan
Casar, NC—With six 911 calls made over a span of five minutes Friday morning, June 4, 2010, the only answered one received by a communication center from a different county. That particular lack of swift emergency response may have contributed to the death of a 5-month-old infant, based on information provided by WSOCTV.com.
Reports indicated Alley, a 5-month-old baby girl, stopped breathing Friday morning for unknown reasons. When the infant’s family tried to call for help, there was no answer at the Cleveland County Dispatch Center.
The family apparently placed six calls to 911. The first call was made at 4:12 a.m., while the last was made at 4:17 a.m. However, the family only received aid when dispatchers at Rutherford County’s 911 center answered their call.
Approximately 24 minutes after the first 911 call was made, ambulances arrived at the family’s home. Unfortunately, the child was pronounced dead Friday morning.
While Director David Dodd of the Cleveland County Dispatch Center alleged the calls did reach his unit of the center, they apparently failed to get through to dispatchers in another area of the communication center.
When Channel 9 asked if Dodd believed the incident was caused by human error, he responded by stating, “I don’t think so.” The communication center is allegedly working with their phone provider as a means of attempting to figure out what might have caused the communication lapse.
According to Roxanne Hughes, the infant’s great aunt, “I don’t know if that call could have helped her, but it would have given us some peace if the right people had known exactly that they were breathing right that things were happening right.”
Dodd asserted Cleveland County 911 will continue working with the phone provider to establish safeguards so similar issues can be prevented in the future.
Legal News Reporter: Sandra Quinlan- Legal News for North Carolina Personal Injury Lawyers.
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