Man Collapses During 911 Transfer, Dies

Police and EMS officials in Cleveland (Ohio) are investigating how a 911 call from an 86 year-old man was handled, including why it took 13 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. George Langford was unconscious when medics arrived, and could not be revived. Officials say his 911 call was answered promptly by a police dispatcher, who determined he had a medical problem, and transferred him to an EMS dispatcher. However, officials say all the EMS dispatchers were busy, and the call wasn’t immediately answered, but instead reached a recording. Langford either hung up or went unconscious, so the police dispatcher explained the problem to his EMS colleague. There was no answer on a call-back, and so an ambulance was dispatched. Officials acknowledge the EMS unit was at a distance, and had to break down Langford’s door upon arrival, all adding to the response time. EMS commmissioner Ed Eckart said, “Certainly in this case, we didn’t meet the standard, but we do meet that standard 78 percent of the time,” Eckart said. Read more about the incident here.