Hernando: Dispatch at fault for death

SPRING HILL - With his 75-year-old stepfather growing seriously ill Tuesday afternoon, a distressed Spring Hill man dials 911.

"My dad. He's been ... he's been sick. Really bad," the 35-year-old son tells Hernando County Sheriff's Office dispatcher John Ellis.

Ellis is calm as he asks questions. He's a pro in these types of situations; a bit rusty after a 2 1/2 year-hiatus as a road deputy but a commended dispatcher with more than two years of previous experience.

Ellis logs the emergency and calls for an ambulance. But this quick action leads to a mixup.

No ambulance is ever sent to the Wellington Road home. After waiting 13 minutes, the son tried to drive his stepfather to get help. He makes it to a walk-in clinic 5 miles away where his stepfather collapses.

Minutes later, the elderly man is pronounced dead at Spring Hill Regional Hospital.

The incident is raising questions about the dispatch protocols just 17 days after the county changed the emergency response system.

Hernando County Sheriff's Office and fire officials met with the son Wednesday morning to apologize. Sheriff Richard Nugent said the incident is under investigation.

Citing privacy concerns, Nugent would not identify the man who died or the members of the man's family.

"We want to assume responsibility for this," said Hernando County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Mike Hensley.

Bill Kicklighter, the Sheriff's Office director who oversees the dispatchers, blamed the incident on "human error."

Ellis failed to see a message on the dispatch screen telling him to forward the 911 call to the Spring Hill Fire Rescue office because the call originated from within the Spring Hill Fire District. Instead, Ellis sent the call at 3:09 p.m. to Paul George, a dispatcher for the Hernando County Fire Rescue, who was sitting 15 feet away.

George, who handles all rescue calls outside of Spring Hill, immediately recognized that the call had been sent to the wrong place. He yelled to Ellis to transfer the call to Spring Hill Fire Rescue.

Ellis, who was still on the phone with the caller, never heard George. George didn't wait to get the required acknowledgement and he canceled the call for a Hernando County ambulance.

"Normally, you get an acknowledgement," Kicklighter said. "It just didn't happen. They made a mistake."

During this time, Ellis was still on the phone. "An ambulance is on the way ...," Ellis told the son 58 seconds into the call. He repeated the assurance twice more during the two-minute call before hanging up to answer other 911 calls.

Hensley said he had "no way of knowing" whether a proper response would have saved the man's life. Hensley said that the son told him that doctors said his stepfather probably wouldn't have made it even if he made it to the hospital sooner.

The decision of which calls go to the county's two main fire departments is a relatively new one. Starting April 2, the county consolidated part of its emergency response. Spring Hill Fire Rescue previously handled all medical emergency calls. Now, county calls are taken separately.

But county and Spring Hill fire officials were quick to not blame the politically motivated changes for the mixup.

"It was a human error and that can happen in any dispatch center in the country," Spring Hill Fire Chief J.J. Morrison said. 'This has nothing to do with recent changes in dispatch."

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Comments on this article

by G.W.	04/20/07 03:16 AM
The good folks in Hernando County need to find out why Kicklighter left Citrus County E-O-C. Dispatch is not an easy job to have by any means. Same old story over and over. Friends taking care of friends. The good old boy/buddy system working/again.

by SHONDA	04/19/07 11:59 PM
I have read this article,and I want each and everyone to know that we can not determined the fate of others. The call should have been handle with the 911 protcol and reguardless of how many feet. The man should have had care! The county is liable!!!

by Jacque	04/19/07 11:30 PM
The media has neglected to address a critical issue - 911 abuse.The system is reglarly overloaded by people calling 911 for non-emergencies. Dispatchers, ambulance crews and ERs are stretched to the max - often for total nonsense.

by Ann	04/19/07 10:30 PM
Mr. Ellis made a mistake ,but Mr. George made it a tragedy. He shouldn't have yelled across a room, and he never should have disconnected the call until it had been transferred it to the right person.

by honey	04/19/07 07:21 PM
There you go all ready there was a mix up with the sd.why change things if its not broken

by Lin	04/19/07 06:26 PM
There is something wrong with a protocol that calls for people to shout instructions across a room at someone without getting their attention first, then failing to follow through by verifying that they heard and understood what was said.

by Barbara	04/19/07 04:48 PM
Peoples lives are at stake, 911 has no room for error. The driver of the ambulance should not have cancelled the request. Shouldn't there have been someone else to hear the driver.

by Dawn	04/19/07 03:35 PM
OBVIOUSLY! 911 employee's are in need of more training.This is not a job 4 those just looking 4 a paycheck,lives r at stake daily.Things would b different if it was their loved 1.

by Tom	04/19/07 03:33 PM
And the county wants to take over SH Fire & Rescue. NO thanks. At least we can count on the Spring Hill agency to show up when we call.

by jack s	04/19/07 03:06 PM
Its sad and regretable that because of human error immediate assistance was not made available. However the EMS is not directly responsible for this mans death. EMS is luxury provided by state to assist in emergencies whenever possible.

by Uncski	04/19/07 02:43 PM
I guess it would be the HCSO that would have to prove he would have still died. They are at fault. Have you ever been told someone would not make it and they did? They took away this guys only chance! I think they are 100% at fault!!!

by Mom	04/19/07 02:31 PM
Hernando County 911 office is all to blamel They are just not trained properly, look at the turnover; ask about their training! Then you will know the truth!

by Gary	04/19/07 12:58 PM
You have got to be wrong on this. Anytime you have mutible interaction angencies there is a problem. All this money spent, and 15 feet calls the shot...

by Porter	04/19/07 12:36 PM
Please let's all remember 911 is for assistance.Not guaranteed. No human is perfect,and I'm quite certain the dispatcher was trying desperately to help.I would suggest to all of the negative folks they should apply today for the position of dispatcher

by Thomas	04/19/07 11:18 AM
The dispatcher should have never canceled the call with out the acknowledgement. He should have taken the initiative to transfer the call himself or to have made the proper dispatch himself. It is obvious that the dispatchers need more training.

by antonio	04/19/07 10:10 AM
Is this dispatch nationaly certified? do they us national dispatch protocal?

by Carl	04/19/07 10:03 AM
One has to ask what kind of 911 system relies on one human yelling across a room to another that they screwed up. The lawyers are going to eviscerate Hernando County.

by Bernie	04/19/07 10:00 AM
The Spring Hill fire chief is wrong. This was more than human error. The computer system should have notified the dispatcher of the routing error and should not have closed the call without acknowledgement from the dispatcher or supervisor.

by Lisa	04/19/07 09:15 AM
I find your title "Dispatch at fault for death" disturbing. You do not know this man would not have died if this had been handled correctly he may have died anyway as stated in this article. This caption to get attn for the article is not necessary

by Stu	04/19/07 09:02 AM
This is unacceptable. Transferring 911 calls! Why didn't the Hernando Fire make the transfer to the SpingHill Fire himself? An emergency is an EMERGENCY! This is politics at its FINEST & WORST!

by Howard	04/19/07 08:18 AM
Why is the headline that the dispatch was the reason he died? From the article: "Nickerson said that the son told him that doctors said his stepfather probably wouldn't have made it even if he made it to the hospital sooner"

by Pete	04/19/07 08:16 AM
Maybe there is a better way of communicating than yelling to each other. They have computers- try using them in an instant messgaing system. Not rocket science.

by Pete	04/19/07 08:12 AM
It's times two deaths and mistakes that someone needs to be sued so they will correct this oops, so others will not die

by jenna	04/19/07 07:21 AM
See, i knew this wouldn't take long for our wonderful greedy sheriff's department to let a person die because they don't know how to properly dispatch fire rescue accordingly.i'll take myself to the hospital after reading this article. shame on HCSO!

by cj	04/19/07 07:01 AM
It's a very unfortunate mistake by dispatch. The other recent 911 problem was negligence, though. Much different.

by Linda	04/19/07 06:51 AM
Human error or not, you guys better get yourselves together and do things properly. AND - you need backup to ensure things are done properly.

by JD	04/19/07 06:40 AM
The sheriff's office should have no responsibilites for dispatching medical or fire calls anywhere in the county. They have no experience, not enough training and this won't be the first time someone is harmed by their action or inaction.

by Gene	04/19/07 12:37 AM
The whole incident was poorly handled. One dispatcher makes a mistake that costs a life is cause for firing him. But TWO dispatchers messing up is inexcusable! I should hope they would be better trained than this if people call 911 to get help.