Another reason not to live in the districtFollow

911 Operator Falls Asleep During Call
Employee On Vacation As Police Investigate Circumstances

UPDATED: 7:14 AM EDT August 5, 2004

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A call to 911 is usually a relief that help is on the way -- but not in this case.

An Anne Arundel County, Md., 911 operator is under investigation for apparently falling asleep last week during an emergency.
Video


Police Embarrassed After 911 Operator Falls Asleep


WBAL-TV in Baltimore obtained a copy of the emergency call Wednesday morning.

On July 29, at around 2:40 a.m., Patricia Berg found herself startled awake -- she thought someone was breaking into her home. But as she described the emergency, the 911 operator fell asleep to the point of snoring.

Caller: Ah, I was woken up ... (inaudible) ... You know when someone runs your hand across a pane of glass, how it makes that noise? The only place I can think of is my sliding glass door, and I woke up to check it out. I didn't see anything.


Operator: (Snoring)

The 911 operator had fallen asleep. The snoring went on for 1 minute and 48 seconds before Berg regained his attention.

Caller: Hello?


Operator: Yes, Hello?


Caller: I was just wondering if you were still there.


Operator: Yes ... (inaudible) What's the problem?


Caller: I already told you. You don't remember me letting you know what is wrong?


Berg complained to the 911 supervisor.

Supervisor: Hello, this is PCO Suitar, can I help you?


Caller: I called, and he took the information. I told him what happened and then he was silent and then I heard (Berg simulated snoring sounds).


The operator, an employee since 1993, is on a permanent midnight shift. No disciplinary action has been taken and the operator is now on vacation -- and apparently didn't say much before he left.

"We are talking to him, we are going to continue to talk to him. Was there a medical reason why he fell asleep? We don't know," Anne Arundel County police spokesman Lt. Joe Jordan said.


Police are reviewing procedures, the work history of the operator and his training.


"Well, I'm not sure that you can train someone to stay awake. Again, we have to find out exactly why that occurred," Jordan said.


Anne Arundel County police say they are embarrassed by what happened. A number of things could happen depending on the outcome of the investigation, the operator may face no disciplinary action, he could get a letter of reprimand or he could be suspended or even fired.

That's what the ******* gets for calling with such a boring 'emergency.'

His call should have gone something like:

Operator: 911, May I help you?

Caller: I live at XXXX, and I think you need to send an ambulance.

Operator: What is the nature of the emergency?

Caller: It appears to be a gunshot wound. The're a man laying on my kitchen floor bleeding.

Operator: Do you know the person or how he became injured?

Caller : <muffled voices, '<Just wipe it good and put it in his hand! Hurry back!'> Umm, no, I heard a loud noise and ran downstairs. He was just lying there. I think it was suicide. Yeah, suicide.'

Operator: Good for you. EMTs are on their way, but it may be a few minutes, as they're only on the 7th green. Remain on the line and I'll tell you a few jokes about underprivileged minorities.

Caller: Cool beans.

You'd think a person would get used to a night shift after 10 years. I'm sure it's the first time happening and i don't know the specifics but that is a very important job, i want to know that if some guy busts into my house and shots me in the lrg i won't die from blood loss cause some guy fell asleep.I personally am a night person and any one who works a permanant night shift should be too. Maybe it was just a hard day partying before, but he should be given a medical examination and punished accordingly some how.

The most difficult thing about working regular midnight shifts is that the rest of the world expects you to continue operating during normal business hours. You family get-togethers will all be scheduled at "normal" hours (like when you should be sleeping). Any business you need to conduct has to be done between 9 and 5 (again, when you'd normally be sleeping if you work say midnight to eight). Every single time you have to do something during normal hours, you are losing sleep. It does add up. All it would take was one day of normal hour obligations and you're operating on too little sleep to function correctly.

And coffee is great for keeping awake to a point. But if you get to that point of exhaustion, it'll just make you that much more likely to just zone out at work. Been there, bought the t-shirt.

Actually it depends, because we are diurnal the need to sleep through the night catches you when it gets its first chance, ie, right after the shift.

I myself slept immediately after my shift (12-8am, 4pm-8am, 5 day), while my uncle sleeps at about 1pm or so, (4pm-4am, 12am-12pm 4 on 3 off, 3 on 4 off.) Most of the other freezer rats I worked with were on a similar schedule to mine, sleeping right after a shift ended. It's more like working 4pm-12am than it is 9am-5pm.

I'm talking from having worked 5pm-1am and normally not going to sleep until about 5am here. (Though, for the most part, if I don't have to be at work until noon, I don't go to sleep until 1am. Heh.)