‘Human Error’ Led to 9-1-1 Call Meltdown in Memphis, Tenn.
By Jody Callahan, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Virtually every time someone calls 911, a dispatcher sends police officers, firefighters or paramedics to help.
But when something goes awry, as it did in Memphis Wednesday night, people are left to wonder if maybe hip-hop group Public Enemy got it right all those years ago when they released the incendiary “911 Is a Joke.”
Starting between 3 and 4 p.m. Wednesday and continuing until just after 8 p.m. that night, the local 911 system was flooded with “phantom” calls, Shelby County Emergency Communications director Raymond Chiozza said.
The calls were triggered when someone accidentally activated part of the next-generation 911 system being developed statewide, Chiozza said. Memphis is believed to have been the only place hit with the phantom calls.
During that time period, 453 legitimate calls came through, not too different from the average.
However, 967 “phantom” calls also came through, more than double the number of actual emergency calls.
Lynn Questell, executive director of the Tennessee Emergency Communications Board, said a technician “made an unauthorized change to the system, and that change did cause a number of articificial calls.
“It’s just unacceptable for that to have happened,” Questell said. “I’ve been assured that this technician is off of this project.”
AT&T is the vendor handling the technical work to upgrade the 911 infrastructure, and the technician was employed by AT&T’s subcontractor, she said.
“It’s not that the system malfunctioned, it’s that there was a human error that happened.”
The board will require AT&T to provide “a detailed explanation of the incident and a complete review of protocols and safeguards to prevent this from happening again,” Questell said.
During the onslaught of phantom calls to the Memphis 911 system, the normal complement of dispatchers was suddenly answering three times as many calls as usual.
“We had supervisors assist with answering calls, and then we have trainees in their last phase of training, we had them come in and (help),” said Stephanie Berryman, the manager of the Memphis Police Department’s communications center.
On a normal Wednesday night, the center has a staff of around 25 dispatchers, Berryman said. That night, with the extra help, they had 31 people answering calls.
“They were just answering them back-to-back, the best they could,” Berryman said.
When dispatchers receive a call with no one on the other end, they try to call back to see if they can reach someone. That caused further delays Wednesday, officials said.
When it’s fully operational, the next-generation system will allow people to text 911 for emergencies as well as submit photos and video.
“Currently, we’re using old (technology) developed in the ’50s and ’60s, and you can only place a call on it,” Chiozza said. “(This new system) is the foundation for the future.”
Accident call came through
Witnesses to an accident that left a 4-year-old boy injured in a one-vehicle wreck in Cordova Wednesday night blamed the 911 glitch for a slowed response from emergency vehicles. David Lunsford said he tried repeatedly to call 911, but couldn’t reach a dispatcher.
However, Memphis Fire Department spokesman Lt. Wayne Cooke said paramedics received the call at 7:53 p.m. through the 911 system, and arrived on the scene three minutes later.
The child ‘s condition was upgraded from critical to satisfactory at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital Friday, while his 3-year-old sister remained hospitalized in non-critical condition.
Their mother, 26-year-old Mary Cavitch, is in jail on a $10,000 bond. According to police, she admitted drinking a half-bottle of vodka before crashing into the utility pole near Sanga and Ericson. Police also found 10 grams of marijuana on her. She has been charged with DUI, vehicular assault, reckless driving, public intoxication and marijuana possession.
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