How to file a complaint re: 911 service

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1

Anyone know how to proceed?

Basically my dad went into severe respitory distress at 4am on Mon morn.
My mom called 911 at aprox 4am

We live in the village of North Collins and are 1 block from the EMT building

At aprox 4:10am or so and still seeing no Ambulance I called 911 back to check on the status of the ambulance, Erie county sheriffs answered and I asked if the ambulance was in route he said “yes” I asked if he had a eta on it and he stated “nope” and hung up on me

So I stand outside waiting and watching, moved the cars out of the driveway, my dad is in serious distress, turning blue saying hes not going to make it ect

10 more mins go by and still nothing, so I again call 911, the same operator answers and I state we are still waiting for the ambulance, he says in a bothered voice “hold on” and blindly transfers me to another operator, this time its a woman and shes telling me they are trying to get a crew , I ask if the ambulance is on the way and she states nope not yet…

So I am like wtf hes going to die and shes basically like “sir its 4am people need to wake up and get dressed” Basically they could not find anyone in North Collins who felt like getting out of bed to respond so they had to call the ambulance in Eden (7 miles away) to respond

And to top it off they told us they were given incorrect info about where on the street we are further delaying the response…

It took almost 35 mins to get an ambulance here when they were free and were not responding to other calls…

My dad is in the ICU and the hospital on a respirator and we are praying he pulls through but this 911/ambulance situation is complete bullshit

How can I find out who took the calls and what happened (who dropped the ball) I want to make sure this never happens to anyone in crisis again

Thanks for any info

2

news channels?

3

Really fucking 2 on your side or some shit.

That is severely fucked

I hope your dad gets better.

4

not to be a dick, but im sure there was a reason they werent right there. im sure you may have just been a little impatient under the circumstances. do you have proof of what time you called, and what time they arrived? nothing will hold up without evidence.

5

next time call and say officer down.
They show up pretty fast to that.

6

The delay I can understand as it took 20 minutes for an ambulance to reach East Aurora when my dad had a stroke a few years back.

This is what bothers me though…

" Erie county sheriffs answered and I asked if the ambulance was in route he said “yes” I asked if he had a eta on it and he stated “nope” and hung up on me"

7

North Collins = Volunteer?

I hope the father pulls through.

8

I’m sure they have records of all of those things…
The woman told me the problem the unit one block away wasnt responding was that they couldnt get anyone out of bed

I cant be exact but it was between 25-35 mins for them to arrive and like I said we have a unit .5 of a mile from here

Thats why I want to get the records though is to prove to myself I didnt imagine all of this

And yes the dude did tell me yes they were on their way when in fact they were not

The eden emt stopped by our house today to apoligize for all the confusion and to return my dads pills they forgot to give to the hospital

She told me my that the call was lost or something I got the info second hand and my mom wasnt really following what she was trying to say

9

how’s dad?

10

yes they are volunteers but so is the fire dept
I dont remember any incidents where someones house burned down because no one felt like fighting a fire

and thanks everyone for the well wishes

11

Getting the call, getting dressed, driving to the place, getting emt equip, getting to your house… The time I kind of justified, maybe a little more urgency, but they are volunteers. None of them had to get out of bed.

Again I hope your father pulls through. you just gotta remember its people helping people. Not professionals helping people.

12

Exactly. Volunteer work like that is trying,a nd I don’t place the blame there.

The problem I have is that you were lied to, hung up on, and treated shittily on the phone. That part is some amateur hour shit as those people are not volunteers.

13

its a complicated situation, he came down with the exact same thing in March, spent 6 weeks in Lake Shore and buff general on a respirator, they disgnosed him with BOOP finally which is a pnuemonia but its not viral or bacterial but its an inflammatory autoimmune response of unknown causes

treatment is a long course of steroids (6 months to a year)

Well he had been home since May and doing well but his steroid script was written by the rehab facility he was discharged to and was running out

My mom called his primary a week and a half before it ran out to advise him and to find out his course of treatment

Basically a ton of phone calls were put in and he didnt get back to her and my dads script lapsed

It ran out on Thurs and was refilled on Fri, however he tapered the dose to a lower dose than he was taking in an attempt to start weaning him off, he started coughing and not feeling well over the weekend and my mom put in several calls to his office, again all unreturned

So his visiting nurse was supposed to come Mon but he basically relapsed and crashed on Sun night

His lungs swelled shut and he retained fluid to the point of congestive heart failure

We had a very nice fathers day dinner at 5pm and 12 hours at 5am he was blue in the face and gasping for air, at the hospital his pulse ox level was in the 70s, respirations in the 40s-50s and his heart rate was 115+

Hes intubated, on a respirator and sedated, he is doing alot better than when he was admitted but thats not saying much

Hes back on massive steroids again and basically its a waiting game at this point

Hes back in the same exact bed in the ICU where I was told he was going to die 3 months ago

So needless to say its very traumatic and upsetting and I am very unhappy with the medical profession right now

So basically we are cautiously optimistic and keeping our fingers crossed

And again thanks for the concern and well wishes

14

thats the problem though none of the ones in this town got out of bed
I am very thankfull for the people who did come

I am trying to find out how much time was wasted trying to get the people in North Collins before they tried Eden

I mean I know they are volunteers but shouldnt someone have been on call?

It seems like a pretty serious job to just shrug off

15

good idea, left a msg for 2 on your side, we’ll see how big of a deal they either do or dont think it is

16

That’s bullshit, like ya said, it’s most likely the fault of the operator, not the actually EMT’s who arrived on scene. There’s enough proof in the conversation you had with them that emphasized their lack of professionalism.

None the less, best of luck to your father, hope all goes well.

17

Wow man that’s bad news sorry to hear this. I hope your dad is ok.

18

CALL A LAWYER

An attorney can subpoena phone call records and file a lawsuit. If it sucks that bad don’t screw around, take legal action.

19

I dunno if its a legal case, I mean the outcome wouldnt have been any different had they shown up 20 mins earlier…
Other than scaring the holy hell out of everyone it didnt change anything not that it couldnt have
20 mins later on the other hand would probably be a case…

20

considering they must retain all phone calls and you can request them through an open records request…