The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "emergency dispatch systems" ...
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Addressing 911
It all started with a tip from people on the front lines, and quickly unraveled into a story that has sparked much needed oversight of Ingham County's new consolidated 911 center. The center merged two 911 dispatch centers into one back in June of 2012. In October, a group of first responders approached Reporter Ann Emmerich with alarming concerns about problems within the system. They believed at least two deaths could be connected to delayed response times because emergency crews were sent to the wrong address. They also believed county officials were trying to "cover up" the problems. Using the Freedom of Information Act, Ann Emmerich began digging into records from the 911 Dispatch Center. She obtained documented complaints from the Lansing Fire Department, call logs from the dispatch center, and time stamped recordings of 911 calls. Just days after Emmerich made those FOIA requests, Lansing's Mayor announced he would form a task force to investigate concerns with the County's 911 Center. At the time, there was no advisory board in place to oversee the center. Once officials went public with the formation of a task force, the original board that worked to establish the 911 center was brought back together to begin oversight.
Tags: broadcast; 911; FOIA; 911 center
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"33 Minutes to 34 Right"
When Continental Flight 1404 crashed during its landing at the Denver International Airport, it took ambulance responses teams 33 minutes to reach the crash site. KMGH-TV's investigation reveals critical problems with Denver's ambulance system and dispatch center, as well as with the city's overall preparedness for emergency response.
Tags: Denver International Airport; Continental Flight 1404; Denver Health Medical Center; plane crash
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Sounding the Alarm
An extra $274,000 was required to fix the problems created by a $37 million upgrade to the Marion County digital radio system. The switch from analog to digital was not as smooth as hoped because firefighters claimed the transmissions were unintelligible.
Tags: dispatcher; 911; emergency call; International Association of Fire Chiefs; radio; walkie talkie; alert
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911 Emergency
The investigation found that "rigid adherence to the Medical Priority Dispatch System" lead to delays in help being sent to the caller because they weren't calm enough to answer all the questions on the check list.
Tags: emergency; transportation; emergency response; health; medical service; ambulance; 911
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Trauma in the Air: Victims Wait for Help
This investigation revealed that seriously injured trauma victims needlessly wait up to an extra half hour for help from New Jersey State Police medevac helicopters, when privately-operated medevac helicopters are just minutes away. This situation exists because of a three way battle between the state police, the state-run hospital system and private helicopters.
Tags: patient safety; hospitals; health; dispatchers; emergency care
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A 911 Emergency
A WISH-TV (Indianapolis, IN) investigation exposed a public safety crisis resulting from a shortage of 911 operators. Inadequate staffing led to emergency calls being placed "on hold." Delays in answering led to delays in responding to emergencies. In addition, use of cell phones and computer-based phones adds to the response time as they do not provide dispatchers with the caller's location. Without this information, dispatchers are unable to determine where to send help. Reporters also looked at the historical problem of agencies not being able to "talk" to each other directly.
Tags: emergency dispatch systems; emergency dispatch response times; cell phone; 911; emergency dispatcher burnout; public-safety communications; Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, APCO; enhanced wireless 911; Voice over Internet Protocol; VoIP; TTY; public safety answering point; PSAP; telecommunications; multiple line telephone system; MLTS; PBX-MLTS; National Association of State 911 Administrators; NASNA; Metropolitan Emergency Communication Agency; MECA; failsoft; Motorola
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911 Tape Details Fatal Night
"When a heart attack dropped Jim Wagner on the floor of a Memphis pool hall, it took an ambulance half an hour to arrive." The Commercial Appeal investigated why it took so long for an ambulance to arrive despite more than a half-dozen people calling 911 to report the heart attack. They discovered 911 dispatchers had first sent ambulances to three wrong addresses, and that the EMS personnel involved "displayed a remarkable lack of familiarity of the section of town where Wagner died, a neighborhood recently annexed into the city." The paper used the state's open-records law to obtain the 911 tapes pertaining to the incident, and found "dispatchers were rudely dismissive of callers offering valuable information" and that "authorities in an adjacent jurisdiction refused to send an ambulance, even though the pool hall lay one block outside its jurisdiction." The 911 mapping system also appeared to have failed.
Tags: EMS; 911; emergency services; hospital; heart attack; cardiac; cardiac arrest; dispatch; fire; police; annex; death; fatal
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Six Minutes To Live or Die
This USA Today investigation finds that emergency medical systems in most of the nation's 50 largest cities are fragmented, inconsistent, and slow. The found three major reasons that emergency services in most U.S. cities are saving so few people in life-or-death situations. Many cities' emergency services are undermined by their culture...disagreements and turf wars between fire departments and ambulance services cause deadly delays. Most cities don't measure their performance effectively..if at all. So they can't determine how many lives they're losing, and therefore can't find ways to increase survival rates. Finally, many cities lack the strong leadership needed to improve emergency medical services.
Tags: Medical emergency; paramedic; emergency services industry; statistics; false statistics; response times; 911 dispatch centers; fire trucks; ambulances; EMS; Mayo Clinic; performance; survival rates; delays
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Lost in the System
For the first time, a media organization showed how citizens get lost in the system when it comes to calling for help for emergencies. The investigation found thousands of times a year calls are placed to 911 and the screen information dispatchers rely on for address has NO address, or the wrong one. The program glitch means dispatchers have no idea from where the call is being placed. WHDH-TV found emergency crews sent to the wrong address, and critical time wasted while people wait for help.
Tags: Tape; transcript; 911; emergency calls; dispatchers
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911 Dispatch
A series of stories exploring what happened in the Anchorage suburb of Eagle River on August 3, 2002, after it took Anchorage police 48 minutes to locate the home of the recently retired state public safety commissioner when he was murdered and his wife shot four times. It was discovered that overworked and undertrained dispatchers, obsolete dispatch technology and poor data management were the key contributors.
Tags: Anchorage; Alaska; EMS; Anchorage police; 911 calls; emergency response time; emergency dispatch system; Patti Godfrey; Glenn Godfrey; Karen Brand