I’ve taken a little criticism for my recent write-up on the 9-1-1 tragedy here in Detroit, but I’m delighted to see that the Free Press printed a follow up to-day: Attorney Geoffrey Fieger intends to file suit against the city.

Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger said Sunday on the “Today” show that he believes a 46-year-old Detroit woman would have lived had a 911 emergency dispatcher taken seriously a call for help from her then-5-year-old son.

Allow me to clarify my previous argument, it is not of the monday-morning quarterback variety:

In a perfect world, these sorts of things wouldn’t happen. But pretending that either government or the private sector could effectively eliminate these risks is a Utopian pipe-dream, and I’m not going to enterain that argument. That having been said, the problem is mitigating damages, and minimizing the possibility of like tragedies in the future. I know that “Hindsight is 20/20” but we need to ask a few questions when considering this specific instance:

A) Did the dispatchers follow protocol?
B) Did they then do everything possible to avert crisis or to assist in it’s resolution?

It’s been suggested that a six-year old isn’t wise enough to sense the gravity of the situation, nor are they likely to be composed enough to dial 9-1-1. THIS ONE DID. If you believe that children are incapable of this sort of judgement and action, then it follows logically that you ignore every call that comes from a child. There was nothing that little boy could’ve said to convey the gravity of the situation to the dispatcher on the other end of the phone.

Of the operator who took at least one of the calls, [Robert] said: “She thought I was playing on the phone.”

When communication isn’t posible, a unit ought to be dispatched. If the victim dies in the interim due to slow response time (which is a separate problem not to be discussed here) then at least the city can claim that it did all that it could, given the resources available. And that’s all I’m asking for: Do all that you can.

I would agree that most young children aren’t wise enough, or composed enough to call 9-1-1 in a bonafide emergency. Nor are they clever enough to “prank” the emergency number. But those who live in a volatile situation, such as, with a mother who has a chronic heart condition, will be trained exceptionally in this area. The ones that do call probably aren’t crying wolf. And given that no reasonable communication was possible in this instance, or in any instance where a five year old is suffering trauma and simultaneously being badgered by the dispatcher, I think the answer to the first question is clearly negative. With such assymetrical information, there was no possible way for the dispatcher to make a reasonable determination about the facts of the situation. But it remains impossible to make an informed decision when the facts are unknown.

Second call, 9:02 p.m.:

Robert: “My mom has passed out. …”

Dispatcher: “Where’s the grown-ups at?”

Robert: (Inaudible)

Dispatcher: “Let me speak to her before I send the police over there.”

Robert: “She’s not gonna talk. …”

Dispatcher: “Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you going to be in trouble.”

“In general, this indicates an endemic problem,” Fieger said. “There’s a discounting of children. Robert did exactly what he was taught to do. And if we’re concerned in the United States about the welfare of children, as I know we all are, we better be concerned when they call to ask for help as much as anybody else.” (emphasis added)

Robert did exactly what he was taught to do. The important question then is: did the 911 dispatchers do exactly what they were taught to do?

If you answer that in the affirmative, then there is indeed an endemic problem. And the procedures by which they operate are in serious need of overhaul. Either the dispatchers did their job to a tee, and it is the system which needs fixing, or they neglected their responsibilities, in which case, the calls for their immediate termination are completely justified.