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Here’s the Audio of That 911 Dispatcher Snoring During an Emergency Call

By now you’ve probably heard about the 911 dispatcher in Maryland who fell asleep on the job and was caught snoring when someone called in. But you may not have heard the actual audio. We have it for you.

WUSA-TV explains the transcript of the incident that happened on April 4:

Caller: “Hello? Hello? Hello?”

Sleeping Dispatcher: (deep snore)

9-1-1 Call-Taker: “Hey ma’am… is fire n’ rescue there?”

The 9-1-1 call came from a woman in a Rockville condo just after midnight on April 4th. Her husband was having trouble breathing and he was turning blue.

The call-taker quickly transferred her to a dispatcher, but quickly realized something wasn’t right.

Call-Taker: “OK, hold on one second ma’am. Let me try and get them on the line again.”

Caller: “OK. Oh… ”

Sleeping Dispatcher: (deep snore)

During the call, sounds of snoring are heard from the background, that are apparently coming from a sleeping dispatcher. The call-taker finds another dispatcher to help the woman who eventually starts to panic.

Caller: “Oh… He’s blue again.”

Dispatcher: “OK, can you tilt his head back?”

Caller: “Yes, but he’s… Oh he’s…”

Sleeping Dispatcher: (snore)

Caller: “Oh… I don’t know what to do.”

There‘s also confusion over who’s snoring during the call.

Dispatcher: “Is the blueness going away?”

Sleeping Dispatcher: (snore)

Caller: “Uh… To me, it’s… Looks not good to me… ”

Dispatcher: “OK, he’s still making those noises.”

Sleeping Dispatcher: (snore)…

Caller: “Yes.”

Dispatcher: “OK, help is on the way.”

Here’s what it sounded like:

The dispatcher was apparently 17 hours into a 24-hour shift.

“The employee was immediately taken from the floor and placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the inquiry,” the local fire chief said.

The patient was eventually taken to the hospital and eventually released.

Comments (35)

  • firemanfrank
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:43pm

    @ Dan fair enough. God bless America.

    Report Post »  
  • 4blackhorses
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 8:31pm

    I recognize that snore!! It was the one on the other end of the line when I’d dialed 911 after the Zimmerman/ Martin shooting!

    Report Post »  
  • Doug
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 5:00pm

    Continuing….

    There was always someone on duty to wake up the others.

    Agencies that force-feed calls to a dispatcher’s headsets are doing so at their own peril. It was a political way to “shorten response time.” It’s not safe. When a phone call comes in a bell should RING or a horn should blow. This agency got what it paid for and paid for what it got.

    There are dispatch centers in many states that are poorly staffed forcing the good dispatchers to work too many shifts in a row. We insisted that dispatchers in police work reached their effectiveness limitations at 10-12 hours and should be relieved. Does that agency have a standard and if not why not.

    There are some terrible dispatchers in this state and at a number of agencies and I hold MANAGEMENT responsible.

    Did they have a training program? What was this dispatcher’s rank? Was it a relief firefighter?

    Why didn’t the agency forwarding the call recognize the failure to properly connect? I do not understand that. In my view, a MAJOR FAILURE with the call transfer occurred. Who was that dispatcher and what training did they have.

    I am suggesting to you that this horrible event makes all of Maryland’s GREAT dispatchers look bad and part of that reason is that the NEWS MEDIA (BLAZE INCLUDED) is not asking the right questions to get to the truth.

    Dispatching is an honorable and very very important profession. Dispatchers rarely get the kudos they deserve for a job well done. This dispatcher did

    Report Post »  
  • tckid17
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 4:49pm

    She definitely wont be able to work at “NAP”A Auto parts.

    Report Post »  
    • tckid17
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 4:59pm

      After further review, a 24hour shift would be brutal and no way I could stay awake either.

      Report Post »  
  • mokyfellow
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 4:47pm

    I worked as a Fire Department Dispatcher a few years ago. The firemen worked a 24 hour shift. 24 hours on and 48 hours off. In my department this worked out just fine and the firemen all liked it. Granted, I worked in a small city (or large town) and most of the time the firemen were NOT tending to an incident. Most nights they were able to sleep 6 ot 8 hours. This is normal for most fire departments. As for the Dispatchers, we worked 8-hour shifts. This also is normal for most departments. One time we got into a bind due to sickness and vacations and I did agree to a 24 hour shift. Prior to the normal bed time for the firemen, one of the firemen (a former dispatched) gave me a break and I got a couple hours of sleep. I will tell you for sure, the next morning at 7 o’clock when the 24 hours ended, my body and mind was so spent that I could hardly drive home. I can not imagine dispatchers regularly working a 24. My opinion is that it should not be done anywhere…except in an emergency.

    Report Post »  
    • Carrieann1
      Posted on May 24, 2012 at 1:59am

      The fire people and/or the dispatchers may like a 24 hour shifts — but we, the public DON’T !! It just isn’t safe — and it only takes one time/one mistake to prove that!!

      Report Post »  
  • Doug
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 4:43pm

    Unless you have been in their shoes stand by on your condemnation. This is one of those moments. I was a 911 professional for twelve years in California and moved to Maryland in 2001. Since then I learned that Maryland dispatching was and remains in the dark ages. If it were not for the incredible dedication of many of Maryland’s dispatchers situations like this might occur more often.

    In California we, dispatchers, fought for and won State recognition and certification. I hold one of the first certificates issued. There was a time when a person would be hired and thrown into the dispatch center as though it was simply a front office job answering the telephone. Out of those folks some solid professionals evolved that later demanded their agencies provide proper training, study fatigue, and pay them more than a secretarial wage.

    I still recall the days when file clerks were sent into a 911 center to break a police dispatcher. I didn’t understand it then nor do I now. I do know it was an attempt by short-sided managers to keep dispatching a low-paid support position.

    The PRESS needs to ask some questions before rushing to judgement:

    1. Does Maryland recognize and and formally certify public-safety dispatchers? (I don’t think the state does. yet.)

    2. Did you ask how 24 hour shifts actually work? Where I came from a Fire Dispatcher worked a fire-fighter’s shift, but you only HEAP PRAISE on them. You work for eight and sleep for eight.

    Report Post »  
  • Rowgue
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 1:25pm

    24 hour shifts are idiotic, especially for something where being alert and attentive is so critical. It’s a different thing to be on call for 24 hours, and to be actually working for 24 hours.

    Report Post »  
    • lukerw
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 2:49pm

      Increase the OverTime pay for each hour over 8 hours… and they will hire more people!

      Report Post » lukerw  
  • LOTO
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 11:48am

    Drug test them all.
    Truckers work 14 hour days ( 34 hours off after 70 work hours, no holidays, no sick days, no overtime, one week vacation after a year). Why cant everybody?

    Report Post » LOTO  
    • firemanfrank
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 1:13pm

      Who would want to drive a truck all day? Anyway people work more than 8 hrs all over its called holding multiple jobs. And. They all are not high

      Report Post »  
    • skoster73
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 1:26pm

      Being the wife of a truck driver and a former 911 dispatcher, I feel the need to clarify something… A truck driver does work many hours and also has a very stressful job. The difference between the two – a truck driver has the option to pull his truck off of the road if he is feeling impaired. A dispatcher is stuck at his/her station, strapped to a radio, often having to take calls and dispatch at the same time, remembering who is going to what and keeping the events of each call separate and is not allowed to leave that position until they are relieved by a coworker or supervisor. Dispatchers are often in completely enclosed rooms without any windows for security and weather purposes. It is NOT hard for this type of thing to happen…. and BTW, they are drug tested, criminally background checked etc to hold the job as a dispatcher ;)

      Report Post »  
    • LOTO
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 1:48pm

      I wasnt accusing anyone of being “high”. I was pointing out how ridiculous the work situation is and relating it to the equally ridiculous and ignored trucking industry. Very few truckers are “high” but they are required to work long hours for weeks and years on end. Also how people in such jobs are expected to never get tired. People were quick to point out that the dispatchers work long hours but still cannot fathom what truckers do. Off topic a little but and sarcastic but many of the posts here go that way anyway.

      Report Post » LOTO  
  • FromSeaToSea
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 11:48am

    Important News —

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKdBxpKqUvs&feature=related

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lil51T7UIrc&feature=endscreen&NR=

    Report Post »  
  • Dan
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 11:27am

    Firefighters prefer 24 hour shifts because they get to sleep in nice sleeping quarters between calls, dispatchers sit in uncomfortable chairs with headsets attached and stare at computer screens their entire shifts. Bathroom breaks and time to eat/stretch to stay awake are a luxuries that are hard to come by on even a 12 hour shift. They are utterly exhausted at the end of those 12 hours.

    The fact that dispatchers are mandated to stay awake 24 hours to make the firefighters happy is ridiculous! It is not only unsafe for the citizens to have a dispatcher that is overtired/overworked on the other side of the phone line but it is unsafe for the dispatcher that has to drive home after the shift.

    Suffice to say a maximum 12 hour shift for the dispatchers only should be implemented immediately.

    Dan

    Report Post » Dan  
    • firemanfrank
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 1:06pm

      You are welcome to ride with my co. And see first hand how restful it is. Firemanfrank@gmail.com. I haven’t had a decent night sleep at home from shift work in 18 yrs. And as for dispatchers they do a great job …tens of millions of calls go flawless ..they are hard to come by not a lot of aplicants for.a.dispatcher and paid fairly low ,they enjoy their job, and probably all have made a diferance in someone’s life on more than one ocassion. Most people hold multiple jobs today and 911 operators work together and could.transfer the call to another center in seconds to give cpr intructions. The only hard working perfect Americans are blogging on the blaze.

      Report Post »  
    • Rowgue
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 1:23pm

      They want 24hr shifts because they get more days off that way. They aren’t being forced to do anything. He even stated right in the report that they actually use it as a recruiting tool when they need more dispatchers.

      Report Post »  
    • firemanfrank
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 1:51pm

      @ Dan where did to get your info from….you are right on Nothing , do some research or ask a fireman don’t go by what the guy at the bar said? Have you ever been inside a professional firehouse its 100 year old buildings that have never been updated. Television hangs from a.chain in kitchen that has hole in floor. Nobody goes upstairs RATS live their. The City does nothing. I am almost 50 sleepover party it is not. I haven’t slept more than two hrs at work and I will count that as my lunch break. This is not a Hollywood show with hot chicks and skinny granola eaten captains. These are Men that crawl though smoke filled halls covered in piss water from the runoff from the stairwells every swing of the axe exposes.more.cockroaches.and when done its.time.for.steak.that I just spent 15 dollars on burnt like shoe leather. Firemanfrank@gmail to learn about my job.

      Report Post »  
    • Dan
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:35pm

      @FIREMANFRANK

      First of all my wife is a telecommunications officer here in Texas, who dispatches Fire, Police, Animal Control and Emergency Units, so yes, I do know first hand of what I speak. My wife has on numerous occasions, arranged private tours of both our local police and fire departments and I must say that the working conditions of the firehouse I have attended were in immaculate shape.

      Now I don’t doubt the conditions you mentioned do not exist, however, from the tours I have taken with my wife and sons, I did not witness those conditions. I have never once tried to belittle, demean or state that firefighters don’t do anything all day except sleep, what I was referring to was that as a firefighter, you do have downtime as opposed to being mandated to a chair for 24 hours.

      Firefighters have options, dispatchers do not. My wife’s department does not get scheduled lunch hours or breaks during their shift, they do however eat during the lulls that do occur between calls, but then again, those can be far and few between.

      This in no way excuses the 911 operator’s behavior for falling asleep on the job. I can just sympathize with how difficult a 24 hour shift is on the operator based on how exhausted my wife is when she comes home from a 12 hour shift.

      I am sure the location and budget allocated are major factors. Comparing a fire company in an inner city or busy metropolis to a suburb or rural area is like comparing apples to oranges.

      Report Post » Dan  
    • Dan
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:38pm

      continued,

      What you experienced is not the standard across the country. I am sure that horrible conditions exist in all city run agencies, however, as I mentioned previously, location and budget do make a huge difference.

      Dan

      Report Post » Dan  
  • AmericanStrega
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 11:05am

    A 24 hour shift. Hey great. Yeah. Let me work one of those. NOT!

    Report Post »  
  • N37BU6
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 10:41am

    Ugh, I hate sitting through the brain dead presenter’s “set-up” before they actually show anything… half the time they don’t know what they are talking about.

    Just play the audio.

    Report Post » N37BU6  
  • huey6367
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:53am

    A 24 hour shift? Am I understanding this correctly? His shift is 24 hours? Not 3 days @ 8 hours? If I had to work 24 straight hours I would fall asleep, too. No one, especially those that deal with emergnency situations, should work 24 straight hours.

    Report Post »  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 10:04am

      There was a feature on the local news last night; the shifts were supposed to only be 12 hours, not a 24 hour shift. How can anyone do a 24-straight hour shift?

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 10:32am

      Typical way the Government does things…use as few people as possible…so that there is more money for their [Perks] and for OWS AND OTHER NECESSARY PROGRESSIVE TACTICS!

      Report Post »  
  • qpwillie
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:34am

    They should just let them work 40 hours in a row and take the rest of the week off. I can’t anticipate any problems that could cause.

    Report Post » qpwillie  
  • TimM
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:30am

    17 hours into a 24-hour shift???? I would’ve been sleeping too. And probably snoring.

    Report Post »  
  • Constructionist
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:24am

    I’ve always found it ridiculous that professions dealing with life or death (such as interning doctors) work 24-hour shifts. Nothing like a sleep-deprived zombie trying to pull that foreign object out of your torso in the emergency room. However, the government is all over private truck drivers and their maximum work day like white on rice.

    Report Post » Constructionist  
  • hudstim
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:08am

    Your tax dollars at work.

    Report Post »  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 10:39am

      Your tax-dollars at over-worked, and under-paid…unless you’re the pollitition who gets the extra/leftover-moneys from the “saved”-$$ of these projects.

      Report Post »  
  • momrules
    Posted on May 23, 2012 at 8:58am

    Seventeen hours INTO a 24 hour shift!!! Are they crazy?

    Report Post »  
    • TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 9:33am

      Agreed. Like the Medical field (mostly Doctors) are they provided a room and nappy time for a ridiculous shift like that?

      Report Post » TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 10:44am

      You voted for them!! Now you’re “upset”?? You voted for King-O’ to crash our country…and when he does…You’re “supprized?? We-the-conservatives will get popcorn and sit-to-watch you eat each-other…since you love ****’s soooooo much..

      Report Post »  
    • momrules
      Posted on May 23, 2012 at 11:54am

      G-Whiz……….if you are implying that I voted for for Obama how wrong you are. If you think I like unions , again wrong. If you think I am a liberal…wrong again.

      Report Post »  

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