A group of Detroit (Mich.) 7th-grade students who says they’ve encountered skeptical public safety dispatchers while making 911 calls is now drafting state legislation to institute training for dispatchers on handling calls from children. The city has experienced at least two high-profile incidents where a dispatcher dismissed a child’s 911 call for help, including one in 2006 that ended with a woman’s death. The students from the Detroit International Academy tackled the 911 training issue as their annual school project, and have surveyed dispatchers nationwide about training programs for kid calls. According to the Detroit News, only two of the state’s approved dispatcher training programs include a section devoted to handling 911 calls from children. The 7th-graders have been invited by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) to the annual Michigan chapter conference in Lansing to present their project, and the class is now raising money to pay for the bus ride. Read more about the class project and state training programs here., and watch a video after the break.
3 comments… add one
If I may correct a little mis-statement, the NENA conference they are attending is in Michigan. The young women are sharing the Keynote address as they will be presenting their findings to the Michigan legislature just 2 weeks prior to the NENA conference.
And, as a matter of new NEWS, Senator Clarke’s office last night notified their teacher that he is looking into picking up the girls’ project and writing ground-breaking legislation towards it. These young women are incredibly gifted, smart, and dedicated to making a difference. I predict that they will win in Michigan and proceed to Washington to present their case there. This will be very interesting to watch.
The voices of these young women shall bring about necessary change and recognition!
Thank you for your time and your publicity on these fine young women!
Kelly R. Rasmussen, CEO Success Communications, Inc.
Thanks for the correction on the students’ destination. I’ve corrected it.
Thank you for praising us, Ms. Rasmussen. I am one of Mrs. Limage’s students. I’m glad you will be joining us during the Michigan mock legislative hearing. I look foward to seeing you. Also, thank you to the website for publicizing our project. This means a lot to us because we have been working on this project for so long, and many of us consider it to be a lot more than that. In fact, with enough help, we could turn this small interest from an interest into a law! Thanks to everyone who has supported us so far!
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