"Stop whining," a Maryland 911 operator told a traumatized teen as she was trying to help her family after a deadly hit and run.
The U.S. Park Police are still investigating the Sunday night incident, which left a father dead and his fiancee seriously injured. The family stopped on the side of the road near the Baltimore Washington Parkway to fix a flat tire when a car struck them. The driver fled the scene.
The distraught teenage daughter of 38-year-old Rick Warrick called 911 to ask for help, only to be met with a dispatcher who sounded agitated with the girl. It's behavior that Anne Arundel County Fire Capt. Rick Davies said "didn't meet our expectations of how it should have been handled."
Speaking to The Huffington Post, Davies said the unnamed dispatcher has been moved to a position where he will have no public contact as an investigation gets underway.
LISTEN TO 911 CALL:
"Hello? Can y'all please hurry up?" the teen sobs in the emergency call.
"Ma'am, stop yelling!" the dispatcher responds. "I need a location."
The teenager begins to give the operator information, including her location and nature of the incident, before again asking for emergency services to hurry up.
"Listen, let's stop worrying about hurrying up and [us getting there]," he says. "We're already on our way."
The operator asks a series of questions about the state of the victims. Through sobs, the teenager still manages to answer him. The dispatcher then snaps back:
"Let's stop whining, ok? Let's stop whining, it's hard to understand you."
The victim describes her father and his fiancee lying on the ground, her father unconscious.
"My father, he's not saying anything," she says. "My father's laying here, they're just laying here."
"Ok, is there someone else I can talk to? Because it's so hard--"
"It's only my brother, my little brother, and I'm talking better than him right now," the girl cries.
The dispatcher asks the girl again to stop yelling.
Warrick died at the scene. His fiancee is in serious condition with two broken legs, a broken pelvis, and a fractured skull, according to NBC Washington.
Davies said it was obvious that the operator could have acted "more professionally, and in a more compassionate manner."
Davies said the dispatcher had been working in that position for the last six years. The operator may face further disciplinary action following an investigation.
The driver of the hit and run has not yet been caught. Anyone with information is urged to contact the U.S. Park Police at 202-610-8737.
Like Us On Facebook |
Follow Us On Twitter |
Contact The Author