Dispatcher Handled Both ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Calls

Dane County (Wisc.) officials have acknowledged that it was dispatcher Nathan Waite who handled the exemplary 911 call involving a childbirth, and then two months later fielded a 911 call involving a carbon monoxide death that generated a complaint by Madison police. In January, county officials held a press conference to praise Waite’s handling of the 911 call from a man and his wife who pulled over while enroute to the hospital. Waite assisted with the delivery of the baby, 12 weeks premature. But it was also Waite who answered the 911 call on March 7th from a woman who asked if it were legal to leave a car running in front of her house for several hours. When Waite told her no laws applied, the woman hung up in disgust. County officials say the 7-year veteran dispatcher did nothing improper. But the caller told Madison police that she felt that Waite had “blown her off.” Several hours later the driver of the car was discovered dead, apparently of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Madison police filed a formal complaint, saying the 911 call had been mishandled. Read about the childbirth here, and listen to the 911 call about the idling truck here.