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Pasco's tragic 911 failure unlikely to happen here

By CAMILLE C. SPENCER
Published April 12, 2007

When someone dials 911 in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, the dispatcher is trained to help in a medical emergency.

That's not always the case in Pasco County, where only some dispatchers have the training.

The problem with that system became apparent in a March 24 choking incident, described in Tuesday's St. Petersburg Times.

A man called Pasco's 911 center because his girlfriend had a piece of steak lodged in her throat. A dispatcher who isn't certified in emergency medical dispatch took the call.

She asked for help three times, but her supervisor initially refused, according to documents. The supervisor finally got on the line seven minutes after the call came in and offered instructions on the Heimlich maneuver.

When paramedics arrived, Nancy McGhee, 37, was dead.

Dan Johnson, an assistant county administrator, said the incident was an isolated problem with "one person." The dispatch supervisor, David Cook, 58, has taken early retirement.

But some Pasco dispatchers say the arrangement puts them at the mercy of a supervisor who may not want to help.

In Pasco, dispatchers are supposed to be certified within a year of being hired. In the meantime, if a call comes through requiring medical instructions, they're supposed to ask for help.

"If we can't count on our supervisor ... we have a serious problem," dispatcher Judie Faille wrote after the choking incident.

Jennie Montanino, the dispatcher who took the call, wrote that Cook refused to get on the line with a "hysterical" caller. Later that evening, Cook "said he could not f------ wait for us to be certified," Montanino wrote.

On a couple of other occasions, Faille wrote, she asked for help and lead communications officer Maureen Thomas said "she couldn't get on right now."

Faille added that "Thomas has always assisted me with emergency medical dispatch, just not always instantaneously."

Eighteen of Pasco's 29 dispatchers have certification. The other 11 will be certified through a course that ends April 27.

Pinellas dispatchers are required to go through a 24-hour certification class within three months of being hired, said Richard Schomp, director of operations for Sunstar Emergency Medical Services, the ambulance company for Pinellas County. And until they're certified, they can't take emergency calls.

Pasco officials are examining whether any policy changes will be made after the call.

Camille C. Spencer can be reached at (727)869-6229 or cspencer@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 12, 2007, 01:06:24]