News

Inside a Md. Fire Department`s 9-1-1 Communications Center

Ben Weathers

02/05/2015

Feb. 05--Sue Greentree has taken countless 911 calls in her 30 years on the job.

But one particularly stands out.

Three years ago, a man called about a child in a crib who was found with a cord around his neck and not breathing.

"I gave him CPR instructions and they had him breathing before (paramedics) arrived," Greentree said. "That was very emotional for me."

The 52-year-old worked for the Anne Arundel police department's call center at its Millersville headquarters for 26 years before moving across the street to the fire department four years ago.

She's one of a handful of people at the 911 Communications Center. The center became embroiled in controversy this week after an operator told the daughter of a man who was struck by a hit-and-run driver on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway Sunday night to "stop whining" as she pleaded for help.

The man, Rick Warrick, 38, of Washington D.C., later died.

Capt. Russ Davies, a fire department spokesman, expressed disappointment in the way that the call was handled. The operator has since been placed in a position that involves no contact with the public and an investigation into the call is underway. Davies did not identify the operator.

Donald Kelley, a lieutenant in the department's communication division, stressed that operators are trained to be empathetic.

"We try to impress upon them that when somebody calls its usually one of the worst days of their lives."

Davies said on Wednesday the way the call was handled in the hit-and-run incident did not impact response time. The call was received shortly after 9:14 p.m., and units were dispatched about 1 minute and 39 seconds later.

Under the fire department's Rapid Dispatch Protocol, which it adopted in 2013, call takers confirm the caller's address, phone number and the nature of the emergency before the information is forwarded to a dispatcher and units are assigned to an incident. It generally takes between 30 and 40 seconds after the call is received before it shipped to a dispatcher, Kelley said.

As long as the dispatcher doesn't have a backlog of calls, it generally takes another 30 to 40 seconds for units to be assigned, he said.

"One of the things I try to do right away is tell them, 'my partner is getting the ambulance started," Greentree said. "That brings the anxiety down."

The call taker will then ask additional questions about the nature of the call, whatever it may be. The call takers have scripted questions and instructions for just about every conceivable situation -- from a person who has stopped breathing to child birth, Kelley said.

The notes that call takers type are then forwarded to another operator who communicates with first responders via radio, he said.

Shortly after the department adopted the dispatch protocol, its call processing times decreased by half, fire officials said at the time.

"Since we've switched to RDP there have been situations where the call taker is still asking questions when units arrive," Kelley said.

The center is always staffed with at least two call takers, a dispatcher and an operator that communicates with first responders and a supervisor.

During the hours of 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, the center has a third call taker. Peak call times are usually during morning and afternoon commutes, Kelley said.

The staff is usually made up of three firefighters and two civilians, such as Greentree. Operators undergo five-to-six weeks of classroom and tactical training. Most spend at least an another two months working under a trainer, he said.

When asked how she controls her own anxiety during such intense situations, Greentree said it's part of the job.

"I'm the trained professional. It's my job to keep calm and try to give them the aid they need."

This past year, Greentree took a call from her own mother after her father had pains that turned out to be appendicitis.

The Communications Center dispatched 77,500 calls last year. Between 85 and 90 percent were for medical emergencies, Davies said.

However, the Communications Center receives many more calls than it ultimately dispatches, Kelley said.

"I would say it's at least a quarter of a million (a year)," Kelley said. "If there's a crash on (Interstate) 295, we may get around 20 calls."

All 911 calls in the county go to the county police department's call center before they are forwarded to the fire department, Kelley said.

As of Thursday morning, there had been no arrests in Sunday night's fatal hit and run. Warrick and his fiance had been changing a flat tire on the side of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway near Laurel when they were struck.

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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly quoted the 911 operator in Sunday night's fatal hit-and-run on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway near Laurel. The operator told the caller to "stop whining."