Erie County to beef up training, monitoring of emergency call takers after firing of two employees (NY)

Erie County 911 emergency call handlers will receive additional training and undergo more frequent call monitoring after two high-profile incidents involving mishandled calls during and after the May 14 Tops mass shooting.

One 911 call taker with Central Police Services and one emergency medical response dispatcher were subsequently fired following complaints and investigations that determined the employees improperly hung up on callers in distress. 

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Suit claims Greene 911 dispatcher ignored call for help (PA)

The daughter of a deceased Greene County woman filed a lawsuit against the county and the county’s 911 center, claiming a dispatcher denied emergency medical services to the dying woman.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court by attorney Lawrence E. Bolind Jr., on behalf of Kelly D. Titchenell, the daughter and administratrix of the estate of Diana L. Kronk. It names Greene County, Greene County Emergency Management/911 Communications Center and its employees Robert J. “Jeff” Rhodes and Leon Price as defendants.

Congressman calls for AG, FCC investigations into service outages across rural Arizona

Arizona congressman Tom O’Halleran sent letters to both the state Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Communications Commission calling for investigations into whether the phone and internet service outages that impacted thousands of people in rural Arizona last weekend were the result of negligence by Frontier Communications.

“‘Unacceptable’ does not begin to describe the situation that St. Johns families have experienced these past few days; they are living in dystopian-like conditions, unable to dial 911

Hidden Heroes: Rabun 911 Dispatch is the first point of contact in an emergency (GA)

Echo. Verify. Repeat.

These are key instructions Rabun County 911 dispatchers follow as they are the initial step in the emergency process when community members call needing help.

First responders are dispatched to car crashes, fires, gas leaks, domestic disputes, burglaries, and various other situations every day.

But it’s the men and women at Rabun County 911 Dispatch who are behind the scenes as the first point of contact in an emergency; the ones behind that thin yellow line.