Calling 911? Better find a payphone ...
Tangled dispatch system for cell phone users delaying emergency responders
By Bill Lascher 05/31/2007
A medical emergency prior to the start of the 2007 Ventura County Aids Walk for Life underscored strains brought by the combination of a growing population and increased use of mobile phones to paramedics and other first responders.
Despite efforts by other walkers with medical backgrounds to save the life of Keith White, the 49-year-old floral designer passed away at the hospital from an apparent heart attack.
White collapsed on a sidewalk adjacent to Ventura’s Mission Park about 15 minutes prior to the walk’s scheduled start time. After other walkers called 911, a group of licensed nurses rushed to White’s aid. They attempted CPR and were soon joined by a physician who was alerted to the situation by Aids Walk attendees.
Police on patrol in the downtown area were the first to respond to the emergency.
But it took much longer for paramedics to arrive. A two-minute delay at the Ventura County Fire Communications Center — which routes emergency calls to every fire department in the county except the city of Oxnard’s — added to the response time.
The response was further delayed because the walkers who reported White’s collapse called from cellular phones. When most mobile phone callers dial 911, they reach California Highway Patrol dispatchers. Those dispatchers then transfer the call to the nearest Public Service Answering Point, or PSAP, which transfers the call to the appropriate agency. For example, because White’s call was a medical emergency, it was transferred to county fire.
Efforts are in place statewide to forward calls placed by cell phones directly to PSAP’s, but, for now, calls from mobile phones will still go through the highway patrol.
“One of the biggest issues out there — and the public doesn’t know this — is if you call 911 from a cell phone you add to the response time of emergency workers,” said Barry Parker, the public information officer for the Ventura County Fire Department. “Whenever you use that cell phone you’re adding time.”
Additionally, the first 911 caller was not from the area and could not accurately describe the location. Calls from land lines can automatically be traced and routed, but dispatchers had to ask a series of questions to pinpoint her location. Another caller knowledgeable of the area was put on hold because the initial call was still on the line.
“It is more challenging now for emergency responders that more and more people are using their cell phones than hard lines,” Parker said. “Trust me it’s very frustrating for [dispatchers] on this end. They do an exceptional job. I couldn’t do it myself.”
According to records of the call, the City of Ventura Fire Department assigned a unit at 9:51 a.m., three minutes and 47 seconds after the call was transferred from the county.
Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Rennie said his department’s response time is within the five minute target Ventura’s fire department aims for. The response may possibly have taken longer, he said, if the medic engine that responded was in quarters and not already on the street.
“We’re able to do that about 50 percent of the time,” Rennie said. “We are in contact with County Fire constantly to improve our response times and to improve the service that we provide. We are constantly working to improve that.”
But population growth has increased congestion in Ventura and traffic is hard to avoid.
“Our goal is to get [to the site of a call] within five minutes,” he said. “That is our standard.We are unable to get that standard. That’s why we are trying to get additional staffing and put another fire station in.”
Currently, Ventura fire officials are lobbying to put a roving fire engine on the city’s streets beginning July 1. Without additional resources that may have been provided by Measure P6 — which failed in the November 2006 election despite support from a majority of voters — the department does not have the resources to hire a new full-time crew. The roving engine is seen as a stopgap response to keep more of the city covered by emergency crews during peak call times.
“You can’t predict where the next call is, but we still have to train and respond to other emergencies, but this engine will be in peak locations,” Rennie said.
Although White eventually succumbed, Parker and Rennie praised the efforts of the nurses and doctor who responded at the scene.
“That was in his favor,” Parker said. “The outcome didn’t change any, but that person had a high level of care.”
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