Discipline Proposed for EMD Incident

A 19-year veteran Pascoe County (Fla.) dispatcher faces discipline for her handling of a 911 call from a mother who reported that her two sons, ages 14 and 12, were not breathing and cold, Both later died from carbon monoxide poisoning from a car exhaust in an adjacent garage. Officials say Illona Smith did not provide the mother with pre-arrival medical instructions and had what officials called a “callous” attitude when talking to the mother. Officials said the mother did tell Smith that the boys were not breathing, but Smith did apparently not hear that, and focused on their being unconscious, which led her through another set of EMD protocols. Emergency services director Anthony Lopinto has proposed a 12-hour shift suspension without pay for Smith. Lopinto says the punishment is not as severe as it might have been, because the boys had died before their mother found them unconscious.