Common Place Name Leads to Response Delay

A Pottawattamie County (Iowa) EOC dispatcher who failed to confirm the exact location of a Council Bluffs grocery store entered the wrong address, and sent EMS units to another branch of the chain for an unconscious man who was later declared dead at a hospital. The unnamed dispatcher has been disciplined, said EOC director Andrea Schaffer, but she didn’t describe the discipline. According to Schaffer, the caller told the dispatcher, “It’s the No Frills (grocery) on Valley View Drive.” The dispatcher then did not ask for a specific address, but asked, “OK, what’s going on?” Fire and EMS units were then dispatched to the only other No Frills in the city, about four miles away. At some point the dispatcher realized the error and sent units to the correct location, and they arrived within two minutes, Schaffer said. The family believes the 32 year-old victim would not have survived even with a prompt response, but they hope the incident sparks corrections to prevent any future response delays. Read more here.