The Reporter has learned that a woman in White River Township called 911 on July 4 because her mother had lost consciousness. 911 notified Seals, who was marked in-service, and it was 12 minutes before 911 was told that Seals was actually out-of-service. 911 then dispatched the nearest unit, Jackson Township Fire, who took a further 19 minutes to arrive.
Multiple sources called The Reporter about this, and those 12- and 19-minute timelines were very consistent.
They also happen to be inaccurate.
Teresa Hall is the woman who called 911 that day. She was kind enough to speak to The Reporter at length about this incident.
Hall’s mother had heart surgery on June 5 and was sitting outside on July 4, in the shade, at a neighbor’s home, when she fell while trying to stand. She was able to get back into her chair, at which point she lost consciousness. Fortunately, a friend who is a registered nurse was at the gathering and was able to help.
Hall says the call to 911 was placed by her friend and neighbor at 2:40 p.m.
Her mother regained consciousness shortly thereafter.
Hall’s understanding is that Seals marked out-of-service 11 minutes after the call began. 911 then called Jackson Township, who took a bit of time to arrive due to the distance involved.
While true, this requires a bit of clarification.
Seals was not in fact self-reporting as in-service at the time of the call and it only took one minute from the time Seals was dispatched before other units were marked as en route.
According to Hamilton County Public Safety Communications Director of Operations Darin T. Riney, Seals Medic had been marked out-of-service since 7:04 a.m. on July 4. Riney said they were dispatched “inadvertently” to the call on Hobbs Road at 2:51 p.m., when a fire dispatcher did not realize Seals Medic was still out-of-service.
“Once they were dispatched, it was just over a minute until dispatch was notified they were not in-service, when other units marked en route at 2:52,” Riney told The Reporter. “Due to issues with being able to verify the address at the time, there was approximately three minutes involved to determine the secondary medic required before they were dispatched at 2:55.”
Hall told The Reporter that White River Township Fire Department Chief Carl Colbert arrived with two other firemen, but she noted they are not paramedics.
It is The Reporter’s understanding that they were the units marked as on the way one minute after the Seals dispatch.
According to Hall, she later learned her mother had passed out from dehydration and low sodium, not from anything related to her recent heart surgery, as she had initially feared.
Hall admitted she was very angry when speaking to Jackson Township paramedics about the response time when they arrived. She also wanted to express her gratitude to Jackson Township paramedics for their level of care and their professional treatment of her when she was in such distress about her mother.
“They did a fabulous job,” Hall said. “They were wonderful. They were very kind to me when I was very upset. Clearly, they care. I cannot give them enough praise.”