Fire Victim Credits Dispatcher With Rescue

The victim of a house fire is crediting a veteran Cheektowaga (NY) fire dispatcher with saving her life by keeping her focused while she was trapped by flames on the second floor of her home. Dispatcher Robert Fetzer took over the 911 call from Kylelsha Monterro, who is nine months pregnant, as she tried to avoid the smoke pouring into her bedroom. Fetzer directed the woman to a small front window, where firefighters erected a ladder to rescue her. Listen (mp3) to the 9-minute call, from when a firefighter answers the phone, then hands it off to Fetzer, to the sound of sirens, and finally to the rescue. [commentary]

Commentary: This type of call is one of those that can sound very bad, or very good on the logging tape. The beginning of this call is slightly confusing, as a firefighter(?) answers the call, and then apparently asks Fetzer, “Can you take this call?” when he realizes that it’s an in-progress fire. Fetzer then comes on the line to handle the remaining 8 minutes, through to when the woman is pulled outside the home and onto a ladder.

In general, the woman is hysterical, and Fetzer gives her as much attention as he can while he performs other dispatching duties related to the fire.

As Fetzer points out in a TV report, he had to used a “repetitive” technique to get the woman’s attention at one point, telling her to listen, “If you want to help your father.” The victim believe her father was also in the home, although it turned out he had already left.

One key to this type of incident is providing the caller with continuous assurance that help is enroute, that they are going to be okay, and to give them continuous safety instructions appropriate for the incident.

As in this case, counteracting the caller’s hysteria is difficult, but possible. By giving them instructions and reassurance, you’ll help keep them focused on helping themselves and providing valuable information that could assist their rescue. Using first names–both yours and the caller’s–can help create a connection so the caller is listening to you.