Hatfield’s 911 call Case study

Call summary

Kim Hatfield dialled 911 in December of 2017 after her mother collapsed in the house in the midst of their cooking. She explained that her mother Shirley started wheezing because she could not breathe or talk and her face turned white. Hatfield called 911, where she informed the dispatch that her mother was not breathing and her face had turned white (Nyznik & Davis, 2018). The woman on dispatch responded to her call telling her that an ambulance has been dispatched and she requested that Hatfield call her back if the situation gets worse after which she hang up on her. The paramedics arrived fifteen minutes later and it was confirmed that the 76 year old woman had suffered a heart attack and she died four days later at the hospital (Nyznik & Davis, 2018). Hatfield felt that the 911 call was not handled appropriately most especially because her call was hanged up without any consideration of how serious the situation was for her mother. A complaint to the Central Ambulance Communication Centre (CACC) the agency that controls the ambulances did not bear any fruits because the agency insisted that the call was handled well illustrating that they could hear her mother’s voice at the background even though Hatfield already illustrate that her mother could not breath or talk. Her calls and emails to the Ministry of health in Toronto to get a copy of the 911 recording were also not successful since she did not get any response (Nyznik & Davis, 2018).

Question 1

This 911 call was ineffective with the fact that the phone call by Hatfield was hung up without considering the serious situation that her mother was in. The 911 dispatch demonstrated negligence by choosing to hang up on Hatfield who was obviously scared and nervous about the state of her mother. The paramedics that she was told to wait for, only arrived fifteen minutes later which means that all this time, Hatfield just watched her mother in agony without any ideas on how she could help her and without anyone comforting her because the person that was supposed to help her hang up on her.

Question 2

This mismanagement of the 911 call led to the death of Hatfield’s mother. The delay in paramedics getting to her house can be attributed to the fact that her case was not taken seriously by the person at the dispatch and so the paramedics did not consider her call to be an emergency. This delay and lack of first aid options for Hatfield’s mother is what led to complications that resulted to her death four days later at the hospital.

Question 3

I believe that if the dispatch had handled Hatfield’s call with the seriousness that it deserved, her mother would not have died. The dispatch personnel should have stayed with Hatfield on the phone encouraging her and also advising her on the first aid options that would have helped in the situation. By staying on the phone with Hatfield, the dispatch would have understood the seriousness of the situation and she would have further advised the paramedics on how serious the situation was which means that there would have been a quicker response which would have saved the life of this mother.

Question 4

This is a mistake that is common when it comes to 911 calls; the dispatch personnel are always negligent on the seriousness of the calls. They always assume that the people calling are overreacting which is very wrongful thinking. 911 calls should always be taken serious because they are always an emergency, the personnel should always take time to listen to the caller without rushing them or even brushing them off because it is through listening and engaging them that they will understand the seriousness of the call. The dispatch personnel need to be people that are educated on good communication and listening skills which will help them listen to the callers and engage them appropriately. These personnel should also have some medical skills that will help them give some first aid advice in case of medical emergencies like the case of Hatfield which can greatly help save the lives of many people that use 911 during medical emergencies.

Question 5

Having this 911 call highlighted in the media was very helpful in that, the effectiveness of the 911 agency was put to test. It helped to show that 911 calls are often taken for granted by the dispatch personnel on duty and they lead to fateful consequences. This highlight will help to make amendments to the 911 departments cautioning them to be more attentive and to make better responses to these emergency calls because people in the society depend on them for help.

Question 6

Reading and also listening to this 911 call has been very helpful and also educative. It has helped me to understand that people really have trust on the 911 call department and they depend on it to help them when they have an emergency. I have also learnt that the dispatchers in the 911 departments are negligent and this has negative impacts on the society that rely on them for help.

 

 

 

References

Nyznik, D., & Davis, G. (2018, May 11). Peterborough woman says 911 dispatcher hung up

during call about mother's heart attack. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4203146/peterborough-911-operator-hangs-up-heart-attack/