DC911 meltdown: Two critical EMS calls and no one answers the radio

PREVIOUSLY: A list to help you understand DC911’s chronic dysfunction

On the eve of an election for a new mayor and council members, DC911 just had another major meltdown. For the seventh time in as many months, dispatchers failed to answer an emergency radio channel. Two DC Fire & EMS Department units on separate high-priority EMS calls couldn’t reach DC911 on the radio after calling 10 times over five minutes (listen above).

Engine 32 tried unsuccessfully to alert dispatchers that they were closer to a cardiac arrest than the engine that OUC dispatched. Engine 32 didn’t wait for permission that never came. They went anyway. After getting on the scene with a confirmed cardiac arrest and no answer from DC911, Engine 32 finally went to another radio channel to say that they took the CPR call. They also told the Channel 2 dispatcher that no one was answering Channel 11. The dispatcher tried to explain that “Channel 11 was busy.” Busy with what? What were they dealing with that is a higher priority than a person in cardiac arrest? If they were really busy with another emergency, why didn’t someone tell units on Channel 11 to standby?

Even after that explanation, no one updated Engine 32’s status in the computer. So, another dispatcher called them for their status. A battalion chief had to jump in and tell dispatchers exactly what dispatchers had already been told by Engine 32.

At the very same time, Ambulance 27 repeatedly called DC911 on the same channel that dispatchers had either turned down or were just ignoring. The ambulance crew was on the scene of a person with trouble breathing. The ambulance crew realized their patient needed the help of paramedics. Listen to the frustration in the crew’s voice as they can’t reach dispatchers for five minutes. Only after Engine 32 gets help on the other channel does a dispatcher finally come back to Channel 11 and respond to Ambulance 27’s request.

This is at least the 28th time a radio channel was abandoned for minutes at a time since OUC Director Heather McGaffin took over the agency in early 2023. This shouldn’t happen at all, much less 28 times. THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN AT ANY OTHER MAJOR 911 CENTER, yet it has remained a chronic problem at DC911 for more than six years. It’s a major example of the failed leadership at this very troubled agency. McGaffin has never treated this as a serious issue, even though this is not the first critical emergency to occur when radio channels were abandoned. Despite having cameras on the operations floor that are recording 24/7, McGaffin has never publicly explained what her dispatchers were doing instead of answering the radio during any of these incidents.

Lives were at stake tonight, and DC911 failed, once again, to properly handle two life-threatening emergencies. When will somebody #FixDC911?