An attorney recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the case of a 5 year old boy who called 911 after his mother collapsed and was told by a dispatcher he should not be playing on the phone.
Wrongful death attorney Geoffrey Fieger said Sherrill Turner, who had an enlarged heart, would have survived Feb. 20 if help had been sent immediately.
The lawsuit was filed by Turner's family against two unnamed dispatchers. Fieger said the city was not named in the lawsuit because state law prohibits it, but that Detroit would be liable for its employees.
"We teach our children in the face of an emergency to call for help and call 911," Fieger said. "But when children call and ask for help, they're ignored, they're dismissed and they're threatened."
Robert Turner, now 6, was alone with his mother when she collapsed in the bedroom. In the first call, he told the dispatcher that his mother had passed out, but the operator asked to speak with an adult.
Reference:
"Wrongful-Death Lawsuit Filed in 911 Case," Pittsburgh-Tribune Review, April 2006.
