Safety advocate claims 911 mishap led to delayed response

WASHINGTON (DC News Now)—The District’s 9-1-1 call center is under fire again after a new claim that a mistake in answering a call, led to a delay in life-saving services.

“There were three 911 calls made and 11 minutes lost trying to get help to Jesse Kyle, a 69-year-old man who collapsed,” said Dave Statter, a public safety advocate.

Statter, who independently investigates the Office of Unified Communications, claims a call taker sent the 911 call to a nurse triage line, which is intended for low-priority calls, where the call then went unanswered. After three calls, he said EMS was dispatched.

“This is, that I know of, this is the sixth time this year, five in the last six months, 10 of them in the three years where we know there were delays in 911 when someone died,” said Statter.

DC News Now reached out to the Office of Unified Communications for information about the incident. An official said Statter’s “narrative” was incorrect. However, a request for more specific details went unanswered.

Wednesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser defended the agency.

“When people call 911, oftentimes they’re very sick, and sometimes there’s nothing we can do to help,” she said. “So to suggest that a call to 911 someone died, that happens because oftentimes people are very sick when they call.”

She also accused Statter of “cherry picking” calls to criticize in an effort oust Acting Director Karima Holmes.

“If you had Dave Statter that was trying to drive out another director (in another city)… you would find an equal number of instances where people have questions,” she said.

Holmes, who formerly served as director, left the agency in 2021. Her departure came just as the agency was being audited by the DC Auditor’s office.

The audit, which was released in October of 2021, resulted in 31 recommendations for improvement. According to a report released by Auditor Kathy Patterson last week, only one of those recommendations has been fully implemented.

Holmes was appointed as acting director by Mayor Bowser in March of 2022.

“The Mayor and I are going to disagree that this is cherry-picking, because of all the good work, and they do, do good work. They have good people there,” said Statter. “They have management that doesn’t work so well. Cherry picking is not what this was about, we’re talking about lives were lost.”

In a statement, Deputy Mayor Chris Geldart said, “The District of Columbia Office of Unified Communication is committed to providing the emergency services needed to protect and preserve residents’ safety and well-being. In keeping with our quality assurance processes this instance was immediately reviewed and where corrective actions were warranted, they have been identified and implemented.”