Florida Dispatchers ‘Endanger Lives’

A front-page story in the The Ledger (Sarasota, Fla.) says that dispatchers in the state make “hundreds of errors that endanger lives and leave people waiting for help.” The newspaper’s investigation cites dispatchers sleeping on the job, abandoning their post to run errands and arguing with 911 callers. The article points out that there are no uniform standards for comm centers, and there is no mandatory training, mainly because of opposition by various groups to the increased cost. In some cases, the newspaper reports, “Dispatchers have been allowed to start processing calls just two days after being hired.” The newspaper’s investigation follows several high-profile incidents in the state in which dispatchers mis-handled 911 calls or radio traffic. Read the entire article here.