DC baby dies during 911 outage; investigation launched
WASHINGTON - An outage at the agency that handles D.C.’s 911 calls is under investigation after a 5-month-old baby in cardiac arrest died last Friday.
According to a timeline from the Deputy Mayor’s Office, it took several minutes for emergency personnel to arrive at the home in the 3000 block of Connecticut Avenue NW.
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The incident was reported when the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) said they were having dispatch issues but added that they were still able to process and receive 911 calls.
It’s unclear at the moment if the technical issues contributed to the baby’s death. According to the agency's reports, this latest incident is the fifth this year.
DC councilwoman slams 911 call center for fatal mistakes: 'We need an immediate fix'
D.C. Councilwoman Brianne Nadeau says the 911 call center’s continuous mistakes are alarming and unacceptable. Tragically, it has even resulted in people and animals dying.
"Losing our computer-aided dispatch system this many times in two months is not acceptable," The District of Columbia Firefighters Association Local 36 said in a statement sent to FOX 5.
In July, D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau called for action after the OUC had severe delays and errors, including its response to the flooding at district dogs last August that killed 10 animals.
Read the full statement from Deputy Mayor Lindsey Appiah below:
"On Friday, August 2, 2024, at 12:51 p.m., the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) took two separate calls from callers at 3000 Connecticut Avenue, NW in which the callers stated that their 5-month-old baby was not breathing. One caller said they were doing CPR on their baby, but the baby was "not coming back." OUC dispatched the call at 12:53 p.m. One call taker ensured CPR was being administered and gave instructions, while the other directed the second caller to go downstairs to meet the first responders. At that time, a federal law enforcement officer recognized the distraught caller on the street in front of the residence, approached them, confirmed with OUC dispatch that FEMS was en route, and quickly made their way upstairs to the child to help. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) then arrived on location, followed immediately by the Fire and EMS Department (FEMS) at 12:58 p.m. At 12:59 p.m., FEMS confirmed CPR was in progress. After continuing to render aid to the baby, an additional FEMS unit arrived at 1:09 p.m. and the baby was transported by FEMS to a local hospital at 1:14 p.m., where the baby was pronounced. We continue to offer our deepest condolences to the family at the unimaginable loss of their baby."