A Las Cruces family won the ability to proceed on a wrongful death lawsuit against the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and the Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority.
The New Mexico Supreme Court clarified in a decision delivered on Monday, April 21, that 911 dispatchers and their governmental employees are not shielded by New Mexico law from being sued for allegedly mishandling a 911 call.
The decision came as a victory for the family of Isaac Brealey-Rood, who was 16 when he died in July 2020 after suffering a heat stroke during a hike in the Organ Mountains east of Las Cruces.
During the hike with his mother, brother and two dogs, Isaac became ill, stumbled and fell. He overheated and became nonresponsive, according to the complaint. His mother, Carissa Brealey, called 911 but the family waited an hour and 20 minutes before rescuers reached Isaac to administer aid and carry him the three quarters of a mile back to the trailhead, the complaint says. While the family waited, Carissa called 911 multiple times for help and responders reached the trailhead but waited for approximately an hour before heading up the trail to respond to the medical call, the complaint states.
The 911 dispatchers also called off ambulances twice and labeled the call a search and rescue when they weren’t lost, said Mollie McGraw, the plaintiff’s attorney. McGraw said the dispatchers also mislabeled the call as a minor medical when Isaac was suffering a heat stroke, which is a major medical event. The dispatchers also called in a fire code inspector when it was not a call involving a fire or fire codes, McGraw said.
Isaac’s temperature reached 106 degrees that day, according to the complaint. He died the following day from multi-organ failure resulting from heat stroke.
The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2023. The case went to federal court because the incident began on Baylor Canyon Trail, which is now federal land.
The defendants, which include the Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority, Doña Ana County, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and the city of Las Cruces, each filed a motion to dismiss claiming each is immune under New Mexico law, McGraw said. The state Supreme Court addressed whether the dispatchers could be sued, McGraw said.
The federal court then asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to answer the question of whether New Mexico law shields 911 dispatchers, McGraw said.
The state Supreme Court sided with the family in this case, stating that the New Mexico Emergency Medical Services Act allows dispatchers and 911 operators to be sued under the New Mexico Tort Claims Act.
The Las Cruces Bulletin contacted attorneys for the Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Facility Authority and the New Mexico Department of Public Safety for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Carissa Brealey and James Rood, the parents of Isaac, said they are happy to see progress being made in the court.
“We are relieved and grateful that the [state] Supreme Court recognized that the law allows 911 dispatchers to be held accountable for the tragic and preventable series of errors and communication barriers that were a cause of Isaac’s death,” they said jointly in an email to the Las Cruces Bulletin.
“Isaac brought out the best in everyone that he met, and his absence is felt every day. Our hope in pursuing this case is to prevent other families from suffering our heartbreak. In life, Isaac made the world a better place, and he continues to do so through our pursuit of justice on his behalf,” Brealey and Rood said jointly.
The lawsuit can now proceed in federal court against all four defendants.
https://www.lascrucesbulletin.com/stories/civil-liability-of-911-dispatchers-resolved,117484
