Dispatcher On Vacation, Missed Critical Training

A Northwest Central Dispatch (Ill.) comm center dispatcher was on vacation when supervisors notified her to review water rescue protocols, and so wasn’t familiar with the procedures when she answered a 911 call from an elderly motorist whose car was sinking into a pond. Dispatcher Dawn Brezwyn was suspended for three days without pay for mishandling the call from 89 year-old Henry Laseke last July when the man drove his car into a pond near his home. Laseke could not escape from the vehicle and drowned. According to the investigation, supervisors notified all dispatchers in June to review the computerized NAEMD protocol for handling a call from a person in a submerged vehicle. The protocol provides immediate instructions for the occupants to escape, since vehicles can sink underwater within 60 seconds. According to an investigation, Brezwyn was on vacation when that review notification was made. She returned to work, and logged 76 hours of on-duty time, but never completed the protocol review. Comm center executive director Cindy Barbeera-Brelle said that supervisors didn’t track who had actually completed the review, so there was no follow-up on Brezwyn’s inaction. She said supervisors are now documenting training notifications and when the training is completed. Read more about the incident investigation here.