Cell Call, Error Leads to Fatal Delay

A cellular 911 call that was routed to another county in Pennsylvania and a dispatcher’s inexperience led to a 27-minute response delay that may have contributed to a man’s death from medical problems. Montgomery County public safety director Thomas Sullivan said the 911 call originated in Bucks County, but the nearest tower was near the county line and programmed to send calls to Montgomery County, where most incidents are reported. A “fairly new” dispatcher answered the call and was able to obtain the man’s address, but not the cross street or city, or the cell tower location. Fire units were immediately dispatched, but couldn’t find the apartment. The caller had stopped talking at this point, but the line was still open. A supervisor then checked the incident details and discovered a matching address and apartment complex name in Bucks County, and the information was passed to them. Arriving EMS units couldn’t revive the man. Montgomery County communications director John Corcoran declined to say if the dispatcher would be disciplined.