Amidst CAD Problems, City Admits ‘Human Error’

After several weeks of complaints by dispatchers that a new computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system has been hampering and delaying operations, New York City officials have admitted that the latest glitch was caused by human error. According to the FDNY, a radio dispatcher failed to notice an injury vehicle accident on her CAD screen before she got up to take her break, creating a four-minute delay in sending EMS units to the incident. A 4 year-old girl died in the accident, but city officials have not specifically blamed the delay for her death. Complaints about the city’s new ICAD software began shortly after it was commissioned a month ago. The software was installed by Intergraph Corp. under an $88 million contract, part of a larger project to improve the city’s emergency communications. Dispatchers say the software freezes up, drops information and completely crashes. Dispatchers have had to operate in manual mode, writing incident information on cards, several times since the software went live. The glitches require dispatchers to frequently re-boot their computers in order to keep operating. The young accident victim was walking with her grandmother in upper Manhattan last Tuesday when a vehicle being pursued by police crashed into them. Witnesses dialed 911 for help and a calltaker created an incident for an EMS dispatch. However, FDNY officials say the assigned radio dispatcher was just about to take her break, and failed to insure a smooth transition of her duties to another dispatcher. The first dispatcher left her console, and it took almost four minutes before the relief dispatcher noticed the incident and assigned units to it. An ambulance arrived on-scene within eight minutes, officials said. The child later died in a hospital. The city council announced today that they will hold hearings next week on the CAD problems. Read more about the latest glitch here, and a follow-up story about the dispatchers’ union position on the problems.