WASHINGTON – DC Councilwoman Brianne Nadeau says the 911 call center’s consistent errors are alarming and unacceptable. Tragically, they have even led to the deaths of people and animals.
That’s why Nadeau sent a letter to City Manager Kevin Donahue and Office of Unified Communications (OUC) Director Heather McGaffin expressing deep concern and frustration over the agency’s poor emergency management and lack of transparency.
“When you call 911, it’s possibly the worst time of your life. Someone has a medical emergency or someone is hurt, or they need the police. Being put on hold at that moment just adds to the fear and the discomfort, so when I hear constituents calling because they need something or because they’re trying to be a good Samaritan and they can’t get through, that’s not okay,” Nadeau said.
“The agency has a documented history of making critical mistakes, such as sending emergency medical services to the wrong address, misdirecting calls, not prioritizing emergencies and not responding to 911 calls,” she added. “I think about that a lot as a mother because I have a daughter with food allergies and if I ever had to rush her to the hospital because she was having an anaphylactic reaction, I’m not convinced help would get there in time.”
FOX 5 was there when flood waters rushed toward the District Dogs location on Rhode Island Avenue in Northeast killing 10 dogs.
Colleen Costello lost her pet in the tragedy. After city officials admitted that OUC made mistakes that prevented emergency services from arriving faster and saving more dogs, Costello told FOX 5 she felt: “Anger, disgust. A new pain. It’s re-traumatizing all of us to know how many times they failed us.”
In an effort to hold OUC accountable and get answers, Nadeau is now requesting daily staffing statistics for the past two years, a list of the agency’s mistakes, a briefing on changes that will be made to address systemic failures, as well as a private meeting with leadership.
“This is not a situation where we need a long-term plan, we need an immediate solution and we need to restore confidence in the public that when they call 911, they will get help,” Nadeau said.
The mayor’s office declined to provide a statement for this report.
FOX 5 called and emailed OUC several times and we are still waiting for a response.
