Neighbors told NBC 7 they were horrified, mad and frustrated by a two-minute delay in getting through to 911 medics on Saturday after a refrigerator fell on a 6-year-old South Bay boy, killing him.
San Diego Fire Department spokesman Lee Swanson confirmed a caller waited 2 minutes and 34 seconds before getting through to the San Diego Fire Emergency Dispatch Center. Swanson confirmed the call was answered in 17 seconds by San Diego Police Department dispatch, but was then delayed during the transfer for emergency medical response.
The boy became trapped underneath a refrigerator as adults were trying to move it around 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the 700-block of Beyer Way in south San Diego’s Otay Mesa West community.
Many witnesses told NBC 7 the extent of the boy’s injuries were so extreme that nothing could have saved his life, not even a quicker response. However, some neighbors were very upset because they had trouble getting through to 911 during the emergency.
“It probably wouldn’t have (helped), but if they would have gotten there, he might have still had a chance. A little bit of a chance, but we’ll never know now,” said Antwon Berry, a neighbor who said he also called 911 but never got through to a dispatcher. “It took too long. I just kept looking at the family, helpless. It was just too long.”
First responders were on the scene within 3 minutes and 54 seconds upon receiving the call, according to Swanson.
NBC 7 uncovered San Diego’s pressing issue with delayed 911 calls in May, as the first news agency to report that a Mira Mesa family gave up on 911 to drive their fatally wounded infant to a hospital after two 911 calls went unanswered.
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Those calls had wait times triple the national standard for emergency call holds. NBC 7 was also first to reveal wait times in San Diego Police Department’s dispatch center exceeding 10 minutes, staffing shortages, and other issues with the system.
In response, Mayor Kevin Faulconer said the situation was “unacceptable” and allocated funds to help retain dispatchers. The San Diego Police Department also changed leadership of the Dispatch Center, and announced a hiring campaign.
The latest issue in Otay Mesa West was not with the San Diego Police Department dispatch center, but rather in San Diego Fire Emergency Dispatch Center, which has also experienced attrition issues and higher call volumes. Fire dispatchers will not be receiving the same 26.6 percent pay raise over three years to avert staffing issues as police dispatchers have been promised. The raise for police dispatchers was prompted by a staffing crisis and public outrage over long wait times on 911.
At the 6-year-old boy’s home Thursday, a memorial marked the spot where the refrigerator fell on him. His parents were not home, and a relative said they had gone to collect their son’s ashes.
Fire Department Spokesman Swanson said the entire department extends their sincere condolences to the family. A source told NBC 7 emergency responders and dispatchers involved in responding to the fatal accident Saturday were completely devastated by the family’s loss.
“Call takers at the Fire Dispatch Center pick up calls for service within 10 seconds 86 to 88 percent of the time,” Swanson said. “Unfortunately, a high call volume at the time of this call led to a delay.”
San Diego Fire Department has added eight dispatch positions into this year’s budget.
“Those won’t change this unfortunate circumstance, but they will help ensure people can reach us at their times of need,” Swanson said.
Emergency personnel say a key issue to addressing the 911 delay problem is educating the public. In one month alone, local 911 operators were bogged down with more than 11,000 pocket dials to 911. Even though Saturday’s 911 call wait did not happen in the San Diego Police Department’s dispatch center, SDPD would like to remind the public how to help emergency responders by not hanging up on 911 calls.
San Diego Police Lt. Scott Wahl said hang-up calls compound 911 wait times, and accidental calls make up nearly a third of the total call volume.
“Every police officer, firefighter, paramedic, lifeguard, we all want to get to emergency situations as quickly as we possibly can,” Wahl said. “When you call 911, the best thing you can do is stay on the line and resist the natural tendency that we all have – to hang up when you don’t get through right away.”
At NBC 7’s request, San Diego Police Department also provided a guide for best 911 practices in Spanish for viewers in our Spanish-speaking community.
San Diego Police Department Lt. Manuel Del Toro explained in Spanish why people should not hang up on 911, even if they have already reported the incident to dispatchers.
“Es muy importante que la gente entiende cuando llaman 911, tienen que tener un poco de paciencia,” Del Toro dijo. “Lo que pasa con la policía cuando llaman 911, es ellos reciben la información e inmediatamente van a mandar ayuda a la personas que están llamando. En ese momento, las personas por teléfono le van a hacer muchas preguntas. Mucha gente cuelga en ese momento pero es muy importante que mantengan en la línea y le contesten las preguntas.”
Dijo: “Lo que pasa cuando la gente cuelga es que los oficiales no tienen todo la informacion que es necesario. A veces una emergencia son médicos. Entonces, es muy importante mandarle todas los ayudas que necesitan. Por ejemplo, en unas situaciones tienen que mandar policías y en otros ejemplos que mandar los médicos y a veces tienen que mandar los dos para ayudar a la gente en la manera que ellos están pidiendo. Si les cuelgan, es posible que la ayuda que necesitan no les va a llegar tan pronto porque no tenemos todo la información.”
NBC 7’s Wendy Fry provided a basic translation of Del Toro’s comments.
(Basic translation: “It’s very important that people understand that when one calls 911, to have some patience,” Del Toro said. “What happens with the police when people call 911, is they receive the information and immediately, they are going to send help to the person that is calling. In this moment, the people on the telephone (the dispatchers) are going to ask a lot of questions. A lot of people hang up in this moment but it is very important to stay on the line and answer the questions.”
“What happens when people hang up is the officials don’t have all the information about the emergency that is necessary. Sometimes an emergency is medical. So, it is very important for us to send all the help that is needed. For example, some situations require we send police, and other examples require we send medics and sometimes we need to send both to help the people in the way they are asking. If they hang up, it is possible that the help they need will not arrive promptly because we don’t have all the information,” Del Toro said.)
