I did call channel 4 and leave a message about things but I got no response
We found out how to acquire the transcripts and had to go through one of the members of the North Collins Emergency Squad, he was contacted aprox a month ago and said he would get them and forward them to us.
Well about a week ago after not getting anything we called him again.
He called and left a message on our machine today and stated that the dispatch center does not have a recorder and that the files have been purged
So basically hes covering for them
I am going to call him back and let him know that I do not accept his answer and unless I get the transcripts his name is being thrown in the mix and I intend on blowing him out of the fucking water
Isnt it a federal law that all 911 calls HAVE to be recorded and stored for so long??
Anyone have any ideas?
A update on my dad, hes still at Buffalo General 5 weeks later
He has suffered a bout of Mersa (he has recovered) , had a heart attack and is on a ventilator from which they seem to be successfully weening him very slowly
Its been a uphill battle all the way and he has hung tough, its taken a hell of a toll on him but we are cautiously hopefull that we will get him back home
But yeah people NEED to be held accountable so this bullshit never happens to anyone again
I’m pretty sure all 911 calls are recorded and must be kept on file for a specific amount of time. I’d call him back, tell him to either provide the recording or you will contact an attorney and subpeona them for the recording. Which is completely ridiculous as they are public record.
Well I kinda answered my own question
I grabbed the phone book and called the Erie County Sheriffs dispatch center
I talked to a helpful gentleman on the phone who told me yes in fact they do record the calls
He did see the call on 6-16 @ 4:10am but he could only find one call, I made 3 calls
He then mentioned the calls are often transfered to Helmuth Fire Company in Gowanda and perhaps thats where the other 2 calls are, I asked him why would they be in Helmuth when I dialed 911 and the phone was answered “Erie County Sherrifs”
He then asked if I used a 7 digit home phone to make the calls and when I said I did he seemed stumped
He of course stuck up for the fact nothing was done wrong but its kind of hard to justify it taking 45 mins to get an Ambulance when theres one parked 1/4 mile away thats not out on a call
So after a 15min conversation I told him I wanted transcripts and hes going to have the communications supervisor get back to me…
It’s a lawyer’s job to place blame, and generally they’ll blame everyone but you, even in cases when you are to blame. Hey, it’s their job.
It sure sounds like the system failed your family. Even having to call out a mutual aid call to Eden should not have have resulted in a 35 minute response time. Both my grandfather and uncle were volunteer fire/rescue in the small town where I lived so I grew up around dispatch scanners. If the primary hasn’t called in “out of service” within 5 minutes or so of the intial call the dispatcher should automatically send a mutual aid call to the next nearest station.
Well I spent 40 mins on the phone with the sgt at Erie counties communication dept
He said he cant give out transcripts but I am more than welcome to come down and listen to the calls in his office.
Basically the dispatcher is near retirement and does the bare bones minium but he passed the buck to Helmuth Fire company, the sgt said not the best service but that Helmuth is supposed to be capable
Also he said with the voleunteer dept in my town they HAVE to take the call, if they cannot take it they have to contact rural metro or somewhere similar to make other arrangements
Basically he said I can get the calls and listen to me asking for help and the operator saying hes sending it but it wont show what was happening in between that Erie county dosent check up on anything, once they put the call into Helmuths hands its assumed its being handled
So he advised me to talk to the Chief at Helmuth and to talk to whoever is in charge at the rescue squad in town and also to talk to our Mayor in town
He told me he couldnt say for certain but would assume Helmuth would have a recording system and wouldnt purge records after a month, he said Erie county is required to keep the calls and transcripts for 3yrs
He couldnt listen to the calls today because he wont have access to the system until a co-worker comes back on Monday but that he would listen to them and would discipline the dispatcher if he felt it necessary
Over all he said it was a load of crap and was unacceptable but he was afraid there wasnt alot he could do for me personally, I got the dispatchers name that took the calls for Erie co. and I got the complaint number for the case and was told to call anytime if I needed to
So I guess I will call Helmuth and find out their explination and go from there
The town of Eden responded, aprox 7 miles from here, also they told us they were lost on the opposite end of our street looking for our house so apparently whoever dispatched them gave them shitty directions as well
The ambulance 1/4 mile away sat idle the entire time
that makes sense…i was hoping you weren’t going to look for monetary restitutions. good luck man, looks like you’re going to need it. and +1 for an attorney.