Bathroom Break Overloaded Lone Dispatcher

A response delay caused by an overloaded North Haven (Conn.) police dispatcher–working alone when the only other dispatcher went to the bathroom–did not contribute to the death of a 45 year-old man in a Feb. house fire. Police chief James DiCarlo also said the incident did not indicate there was a staffing issue at the center. He did acknowledge it took three minutes for the dispatcher to alert fire units to the incident, primarily because dispatcher Christine Midolo was in the bathroom, forcing Sgt. Marc Fasano to handle several simultaneous 911 calls about the fire. “The individual that was on a personal break is entitled to go on a personal break, obviously, with the knowledge of a supervisor…I didn’t see any negligence or neglect of duty on the part of the supervisor,” said DiCarlo after his investigation. The chief noted that last December he requested two additional dispatcher positions, and included the same request in next year’s budget. Read more about the staffing level and the round-about 911 calls here. Read about previous complaints made by the fire department about the comm center here.