Boy's 911 calls put trouble in spotlight

[Sapphire Blue]

Boy's 911 calls put trouble in spotlight
Death of Detroit boy's mom results in lawsuit
April 11, 2006
BY MARISOL BELLO, FRANK WITSIL and JOE SWICKARD
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

Anshiree Martin's 9-year-old son, Damion Cottingham, died in her arms in 2001, gasping for breath in an asthma attack after a Detroit 911 operator repeatedly assured her that help was on the way.

Martin -- who sued the city in 2001 and won an arbitrator's award of $325,000 -- said Monday she knows the grief felt by 6-year-old Robert Turner, whose calls to 911 in February after his mom collapsed were considered possible pranks. Sherrill Turner, 46, died of complications from an enlarged heart, putting Detroit's emergency response system under harsh criticism and intense scrutiny, and prompting a lawsuit filed Monday.

(snip)

On Monday, attorney Geoffrey Fieger -- with Robert at his side playing with a Spider-Man toy -- filed a $1-million lawsuit on behalf of Robert and his mother's estate, claiming gross negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress on the part of Detroit 911 operators who took the boy's calls.

Saying Sherrill Turner's death isn't an isolated case, Fieger also said he represents another woman whose calls last year to 911 -- she said she had been shot in the head -- were met with skepticism and delay. A dispatcher asked her if she was a mental patient.

Continued @ http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006604110321

(Audio of Robert Turner's calls & text of Lorraine Hayes' first 911 call are also available here. <Lorraine Hayes is the woman who was shot in the head; she finally got help after calling relatives in Minnesota & is now a paraplegic> )

[greenbriar]

1. I saw this story and cried.

that little boy

[Sapphire Blue]

3. Robert Turner's mother died; Anshiree Martin's son died; Lorraine Hayes...

... is a paraplegic. How many more cases are there where 911 dispatchers have failed to properly respond to an emergency? What kind of training do they have that they fail to properly respond? How do they sleep at night?

If only the wrongful death lawsuit could bring Robert's mother back to him. :cry: So sad, and so inexcusable.

[ninkasi]

2. That was so sad

The little boy did what children are told to do in an emergency. He tried so hard to get help for his mother, but the 911 operators wouldn't believe him. I saw the interview with him, and it broke my heart for that precious child.

[Sapphire Blue]

4. Meanwhile, the 911 dispatchers didn't do what they were supposed to do...

... what they are supposedly trained to do. Because of their actions, Robert's mother died. Anshiree Martin's son died. Lorraine Hayes is now a paraplegic.

[greenbriar]

5. My heart broke for the little guy

he was so distraught

[tammywammy]

6. I saw on the news the other night

a story about another woman who the 911 operator didn't believe. She had be shot, and is not paralyzed from the waist down, and she would have been able to walk today if the operator didn't delay the arrival of the EMTs.

It was a horrible story. The woman was like "I've been shot, please help" and then the operator would say something like "are you sure you're not crazy."

It also happened in Detroit. I think a lot of house cleaning is due in Detroit's 911 operator system.