https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/31/us/ar...her/index.html
Debra Stevens was working her normal newspaper delivery route in Fort Smith, Arkansas, when rising flood waters began to overtake her SUV.
The final, desperate 911 call of the 47-year-old woman who delivered the Southwest Times Record to front doors came at 4:38 on the morning of August 24.
Last edited by raisedbywolves; 11-23-2022 at 08:45 AM.
First of all, I wonder why they decided to review the transcripts of this particular dispatcher?
The dispatcher has either been on the job so long that shit doesn’t faze her and she stopped caring, she’s burnt out, or she lacked empathy in the first place. Something has to be wrong with her if she was that heartless.
I feel so bad for that poor woman that died. She knew it was coming and her last conversation ever was with a lady being shitty to her.
"The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man" -Charles Darwin
Originally Posted by bowieluva
The dispatcher needs a punch in the face. No excuse. None.
Dispatcher needs to go to jail as she could of saved this lady if she made the call a PRIORITY but nope she treated it like a normal call about a mom and daughter fighting what a cunt I?m so mad !
Even though this dispatcher has already quit, I feel like she needs to be charged with something because she didn't do her job properly and someone died because of it.
Everyone who was supposed to help her failed her. The firefighters took an hour to find her. The dispatcher said a few dickish things, but she was trying to calm the lady down with most of what she said. The lady was screaming and freaking out, so telling her not to do that so she doesn't use up her oxygen seems like an important thing to say.
I get that, but she didn't have to say "shut up", and some of the other things she said. Also, she should have stayed on the phone and tried to get more info so they could find her, not try to go to another call. That's the part I have a real problem with.
Did you listen to the same recording or read the same transcripts that everyone else did ? The dispatcher was on her last day of work and she was a total coldhearted bitch to someone who knew she was probably going to die . She didn't say a few dickish words she belittled and shamed someone who got caught in a flash flood as the victim was begging for help .
That's true. I'm not denying she royally fucked up.
Nope, I'm illiterate, blind, and deaf. Have also been in a coma since '92.
https://5newsonline.com/2019/09/05/w...n-flash-flood/
FORT SMITH, Ark. (KFSM) — At the end of August dramatic 911 audio of a Fort Smith woman who died in flash flooding was released. Now another woman is coming forward, saying her fate could have been the same.
Janet Smith says she can't stop thinking about what she calls a near-death experience on August 24, the same day Debbie Stevens died when her car was swept away by flash floods while delivering newspapers.
The audio from Stevens' call to 911 shocked the community. Former Fort Smith 911 dispatcher Donna Reneau has been criticized for her interactions with Stevens.
Because Smith was on the phone with dispatch that morning for 25 minutes, around the same time as Stevens, she says help never arrived.
"Help me!" Smith said to a Fort Smith dispatcher.
Smith's drive home from work at 5 a.m. that morning ended much differently than expected. Flash floodwaters began to fill her truck on 5th St in Fort Smith.
"How far away are they?" Smith said.
"They are leaving the station right now ma'am," an unidentified 911 dispatcher said.
From the start of the call, Smith believed first responders were just minutes away. Knowing she couldn't swim, Smith just held on.
"I'm trying to hang on, but the whole cab of the truck is full of water...it's all the way up over the steering wheel," said Smith.
Smith says it's a moment she will never forget.
"It's going to be there. It's going to be there for the rest of my life. But I was lucky enough to come out of it," Smith told 5NEWS.
At one point during the 911 call, Smith says she can hear sirens in the distance, but the sound faded. The dispatcher promised help was on the way dozens of times.
"How many times have you said that?" Smith said.
"We are getting somebody to you, you need to quit being so pessimistic and be optimistic," the dispatcher said.
As the minutes ticked by Smith says her time on the phone was wasted and she wished she had called her kids to say goodbye.
"It's knowing that you are all alone and the only person you have to hold onto is offering to hang up on you," Smith told 5NEWS.
"Okay do you want me to just hang up the phone and just leave you there...or do you want me to stay on the phone and try to get somebody to you?" the dispatcher said.
"I want you to talk me through this slow death that I am about to go through," Smith said.
"Ma'am everything is going to be okay," the dispatcher said.
Ultimately, Smith made it home that morning, but she knows Debbie Stevens did not.
" I want to do this for her because I know how raw emotion is when you are in that situation," Smith said to 5NEWS.
She believes she was misled by the dispatcher and given false hope.
"It seemed like no one was prepared, and I feel like you should always be prepared."
Smith knows she never wants to be in a situation like this again, and says she's lucky to be alive. "I was blessed with another opportunity and another lease on life, and I'm going to take it."
Smith hung up on 911 after 25 minutes to scream for help from someone passing by. That man flagged down firefighters in the area to rescue her.
5NEWS reached out to the Fort Smith Police Department for comment on this story and to verify the name of the dispatcher who handled Smith's call. They have not replied yet to confirm the identity of the dispatcher.
The dispatcher that handled Smith's call was not Donna Renau, but Renau was responsible for training other dispatchers.
Ok now. Fuck all those people.
I just read about this case and I can't stop shaking my head. How is this bitch going to deal with what she did for the rest of her life? Shame on her!
This was one of the hardest 911 calls I?ve listened to. I listen to quite a few. I usually feel so bad for the caller because they?re not familiar with how the protocol goes and in their mind, the person on the phone is stalling their help.
This operator was maddening. She offered zero assistance to her knowing the water was rising and this poor woman couldn?t swim. I thought I heard them all, until this one.
I could be mistaken, but I swore I saw that this operator was recognized for her outstanding work - not for this particular call, but afterwards. I will link it if I find it.
Would her family be able to pursue a civil case against the 911 dispatcher? Negligence, something along those lines
https://abcnews.go.com/US/911-dispat...ry?id=67886555
911 dispatcher who scolded drowning woman won't face charges
Last edited by raisedbywolves; 11-23-2022 at 08:45 AM.
I couldn't listen to the audio, it was hard enough to read this article. This was really a no-win situation for everybody. I can't believe more people didn't die that night.
https://www.5newsonline.com/article/...c-27f2866fe91fStevens was the 15th call due to vehicles in floodwaters that morning, and 19 other calls were made following hers.
A report of the night states that the 911 center was staffed with four operators and was overwhelmed with calls during the flash flooding and the situation was described as "chaotic, at best."
At the beginning of the call, Reneau was not able to establish Stevens' location. Reneau put in a police call for Stevens with the call type ?stalled vehicle? but changed the priority from the standard level of 6 to a higher priority of 4. Records indicate that there were no officers available at the time.
Reneau also put in a fire call, dispatching Ladder 1 on a water rescue call. Ladder 1 got caught in flooding at Greenwood and North O while responding to the call. Records state that while turning the truck around, firefighters rescued someone else who was stranded in floodwaters. As they proceeded back to the route, they were informed that Pumper 7 took over the call and responded.
You are talking to a woman who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe.
...Collector of Chairs. Reader of Books. Hater of Nutmeg...
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
