Township Line Creates Response Delay

Stark County (Ohio) officials have an explanation for why it took 20 minutes for fire units to reach a woman trapped after her vehicle crashed off the road and ran into a pond. The boundary for the city of Canton and the township of Canton in the county runs down the middle of the highway where the woman’s car ran off the road–on the city side. A neighbor dialed 911 after talking to the victim, and then dialed 911 to reach the county 91 center. County 911 director Tim Warstler said dispatchers are instructed to the cellular tower to determine jurisdiction, not the location that callers provide. So in this case, the dispatcher transferred the 911 call to the city comm center. The city dispatcher noticed the caller had given his own nearby county address, and told the caller, “I’ll let them know.” The city dispatcher called the sheriff, who said they weren’t working any accidents, then the highway patrol, who sent a trooper. Meanwhile, since the original caller didn’t indicate an injury, no EMS units were enroute. Read the full story and listen to the 911 calls that include the exclamation, “Well, 911 sucks then!” here.