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Every 911 caller deserves a response, no matter what

Imagine for a moment that you woke up suddenly one night and thought you had been awakened by a suspicious noise in your house. You weren't sure what it was - perhaps you could have dreamed it - but you were uneasy, even frightened. You called 911 and told the dispatcher you thought you heard a strange noise. Could a police officer come and look around?

You would expect an officer to arrive shortly and check things out - to ensure your safety or just ease your mind.

You would not expect the dispatcher to say to you, "No, sir. I remember you called twice last month, and we didn't find anything wrong, so we aren't coming this time." You would be miffed if a police officer who received the dispatched call said to himself, "Hmmph. I'm not taking this call. The guy will call back if somebody breaks into his house."

Most firefighters, paramedics and police officers know what the citizenry expects of them. When a call comes in, they roll. They are polite, professional and helpful, even if they arrive and find that the odd odor you smelled is not smoke, your injury needs nothing more than a bandage, and there is no intruder lurking in the dark. That's the way it works.

But it didn't work that way on March 26 in Clearwater, when a woman called 911 for assistance because she woke up before dawn and thought she had been sexually assaulted during the night. The call came in to Clearwater Fire Station 49. Two paramedics, five-year veteran Michael Jones and nine-year veteran Trevor Murray, decided not to answer the call. They just stayed at the station, though they did suggest that the dispatcher notify the Police Department to check on the woman, who has not been identified by authorities.

The caller was regarded as a "frequent flier." In other words, she called 911 more often than most people do, and sometimes there was no apparent emergency. She also had been unpleasant and accusatory toward emergency personnel when they had gone to her house, officials said.

Clearwater fire Chief Jamie Geer fired the two paramedics when a recent routine review of 911 calls uncovered that no unit had responded to the woman's call for help. Geer said that what the paramedics did was so egregious that the only responsible action he could take was to fire them. Refusing to respond "is our No. 1 cardinal sin," he said.

Yet their fellow firefighters, the fire union and some residents have defended Jones and Murray, saying they were highly skilled employees with clean personnel records. Those defenders have slammed Geer for firing the paramedics for one bad decision.

The problem of nuisance callers is a thorny one for emergency workers. While some of these individuals are malicious abusers of the 911 system, others have chronic physical or emotional problems, are desperately lonely or are easily frightened. They reach out for help by calling 911, even though they do not have a typical emergency. Because emergency workers can't assess the true nature of the call until they arrive on the scene, they are required by law and policy to respond to every emergency call to 911 - whether they want to or not.

In the case of the Clearwater paramedics, it is important for the public to know these facts:

The woman did not call the Fire Department all that frequently. Records show 15 calls since July 2003, but when she called for help on March 26, it had been 52 days since her last call to the department.

The Clearwater paramedics were not supervisors and had no authority to make the decision not to respond to the woman's call. They did not ask their supervisors on that shift for permission either.

The paramedics were not busy with another call. They were available to respond but chose not to, even though the woman's home was only blocks from the station.

Clearwater police officers did go to the woman's home that morning and took her to a hospital for evaluation and treatment.

Clearwater officials may want to explore whether there is any penalty they can assess on people who make malicious bogus calls to 911. However, police, firefighters and paramedics must continue to do their duty, and that is to respond promptly to everyone who calls for help. Geer's action against Murray and Jones reinforces that important message.

[Last modified May 15, 2005, 01:21:24]