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DISPATCHERS SUSPENDED WITHOUT PAY-NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN DEADLY PA. SUV CRASH

 FireCompanies    February 28, 2006    No Comments

 Two 911 dispatchers are off the job. Their bosses say they made mistakes that may have cost a special olympian his life. No one’s been arrested in connection with the crash last Wednesday. But we’ve learned that two long-time emergency dispatchers are suspended without pay. We’ve learned that two dispatchers made serious mistakes last week. It took almost a half-hour for an ambulance to reach a man who needed that help in ten minutes, tops, because he was bleeding to death. And almost as long for police to arrive. Now, a shake-up in the 911 department – involving two long-time dispatchers. The first call came in at 12:17 Wednesday morning. From the railyard, a Norfolk Southern worker saw and heard an SUV crash into the building. he radioed his bosses, who called 911. After listening to the recording of the call, Blair County Commissioner John Eichelberger told us the dispatcher was clearly told ‘someone is hurt.. call an ambulance.’ But the dispatcher put the wrong information into the computer.. entering it as an accident without injury. It’s a second dispatcher’s job to call for police, fire and ambulance workers. But the second dispatcher relayed that wrong information to police.. at the same time, making a second mistake. Police weren’t sure if they should go to Eighth Avenue in Altoona or North Eighth in Juniata. The dispatcher said “I’ll call you right back,” but never did… so police didn’t know where to go. The same railroad worker who reported the crash the first time called again, 21 minutes later. Almost a half-hour after the crash paramedics finally arrived, and rushed Orville Crawford to the hospital.. where he was pronounced dead. The coroner says Crawford died from severe blunt force trauma and a lacerated liver, which caused internal bleeding. The dispatcher who botched the first call is in the process of being fired. The second dispatcher – who never called police back with a better address – is off the job for two days, without pay. We’ve also learned that a woman who admits to being involved in the fatal crash gave police a blood sample, willingly. In court papers, police say the Altoona woman told them she had a friend drive her loaner car because she’d had too much to drink while they were bar-hopping. Her blood will now be compared with samples investigators took from the SUV’s driver and passenger sides, to see if she’s telling the truth. We’ve also learned that the first dispatcher should have automatically called an ambulance, because the crash was called in third-hand. The deputy police chief said he’s asked for a copy of the two 911 calls. The coroner wants to hear them, too. We’ve asked for a copy – or even just to listen to the recordings – but we were turned down.

 Fire Communications, News

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