Police drive apparent stroke victim to hospital after DC911 twice sends EMS to wrong location

The hits keep on coming. U.S. Park Police drove an apparent stroke victim to the hospital this (Friday) evening after waiting about 20 minutes for medics to arrive. This happened just one block from the White House. EMS was delayed because DC911/OUC sent DC Fire & EMS to two bad locations in the wrong quadrant of the city. While this was going on, US Park Police told DC911 that the patient’s “condition was deteriorating”.

US Park Police were at 17th Street and Constitution Avenue NW near the Lockkeeper’s House in the shadow of the Washington Monument, just south of the White House complex. Fire and EMS were first sent to 15th and Constitution in Northeast, followed by 17th and Constitution NE. It took about 18 minutes before DC911 corrected the problem.

OUC only learned of the mistake after US Park Police called on the radio, wondering where the ambulance was. About the same time, a fire officer who was sent to the wrong locations noticed in the notes entered by DC911 that the correct location was by the Lockkeeper’s House, a landmark apparently given to 911 by US Park Police. By the time OUC dispatched the correct fire and EMS units to the correct location, a US Park Police officer, worried about the man’s deteriorating condition, decided to drive the patient to the hospital.

Timeline

• 5:29p Engine 8 and Medic 10 were sent for a stroke victim to 15th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
• 5:33p Engine 8 couldn’t find a patient at 15th and Constitution NE and asked for a call-back. They were told by the dispatcher on Channel 11 to, “Stand by.”
• 5:37p Engine 8 said again, “Find nothing, requesting a call-back.” They were again told to stand by.
• 5:39p A dispatcher claimed Park Police said to check 17th Street and Constitution Avenue NE.
• 5:42p Finding nothing at the new location, Engine 8 asked if DC Police or US Park Police are supposed to be on the scene. A dispatcher said, “Stand by, I’ll do an additional call-back.”
• 5:44p US Park Police called by radio on DC Fire & EMS Channel 2, “For the stroke victim at 17th and Con, his condition is deteriorating. We are just trying to find out the ETA for the ambulance.” They were told to stand by.
• 5:45p A DC911 dispatcher asked US Park Police on Channel 2, “Is this going to be Northwest or Northeast?” US Park Police responded, “Northwest, Con and 17th.” US Park Police was told to “Stand by.”
• 5:45p On Channel 11, Engine 8 said, “New note says it’s at the Lockkeeper’s House. That’s in Northwest, which is a totally different section of the city. You’re going to have to re-dispatch it with the proper address.” A dispatcher responded, “Okay, I am doing two things at one time. I’m still talking to him and typing at the same time. Okay, you can go in service (unintelligible).”
• 5:46p On Channel 2, the dispatcher said, “Communications to US Park, I have units responding to 17th and Constitution Avenue. You are going to have Ambulance 23 and Medic 2 responding. US Park, okay?” US Park responded, “10-4, thank you ma’am,”
• 5:47p Ambulance 23 and Medic 3 (not Medic 2) were dispatched for a stroke victim at 17^th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW.
• 5:48p Dispatcher told Ambulance 23 and Medic 3, “You are being placed in service by Park Police. They advise they are taking the patient to the hospital.”  =

DC911 has its own history among these historic sites

Just 17 days ago, DC911 botched another call just a block from the White House. This one was at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. In that case, an engine company needed help for a person trapped in a car that had struck a pole. Dispatchers sent the requested help to a different crash. That one was miles away, along the southeast border of the city with Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Even though the White House, the Washington Monument, the US Capitol, and the Lincoln Memorial are well known to tourists, DC911 has a long history of making mistakes when sending fire and EMS to areas around the National Mall. STATter911 has chronicled a series of errors confusing Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive on the Mall with Madison Street and Jefferson Street located in a neighborhood about five miles to the north. Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive are the main east-west routes along the Mall between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument. Various Smithsonian museums are located there.

What does it say to visitors when a premier tourist city like the nation’s capital continually shows that its 911 center can’t promptly send help to some of the best-known locations, not just in DC, but in the world? What does it say about the mayor and DC Council that DC911 constantly makes these kinds of mistakes, not just in tourist areas, but all over the city, with zero accountability?