Laura Munson’s mother waited nearly two minutes for an emergency dispatcher to answer, hoping to hear a human voice on the other end of the line. Laura’s father, Bob, was unconscious and needed an ambulance.
As precious seconds ticked away, her mother hung up and re-dialed 911. Again, the call went unanswered for what felt like far too long.
An emergency dispatcher repeatedly threatened “to shoot everyone at work” if passed over for promotion, according to a complaint filed with the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Meagan Sullivan’s original plan was to be a kindergarten teacher. The idea of teaching children intrigued her.
She lasted two months.
Sullivan, 34, is helping people in another way, working as an Erie County 911 telecommunicator. She sits behind a bank of eight large computer screens at the county’s 911 center in Summit Township, receiving emergency calls from the public, assessing each situation, and dispatching ambulances, firefighters or police to the scene if needed.
The city of Toledo is currently in negotiations with the Willamette Valley Communications Center in Salem for the handling Toledo’s 911 emergency calls in the future.
The city has had its own 911 dispatch center for many years, but staffing shortages and limited funding have made it difficult to keep the center operational.
“We’re here today to advocate for S.P.11 to try and provide funding for telecommunicators to be able to help them perform CPR over the phone if they aren’t certified, and to be able to recognize when it’s time to start CPR,” said Richmond Carson, who performed life-saving CPR in 2015.
