Did Ya'll Hear About This

Seeing this story throughout the weekend made me very upset. This 5-year-old boy dialed 911 when his mother was passed out. The dispatcher thought it was a prank call and didn't send help. Now a lot has been made of the fact that dispatchers get a lot of prank calls. That to me is unimportant, because every call should be handled on a case by case basis. How can one so subjectively determine what is an emergency and what is not? It kind of makes you wonder, what would happen if you had an emergency!

M. O'BRIEN: It was a life and death emergency, but a 911 operator dismissed it as a prank call. A young boy of Detroit dialed 911 when his mother needed help, and fast. But instead, he got a scolding and a threat to call police. CNN's Fredricka Whitfield has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One afternoon in February, 5-year-old Robert Turner found his mother unconscious in their Detroit apartment.
ROBERT TURNER, CALLED 911: I had felt her tummy, she wasn't breathing. And I had called 911. Tell them that send an emergency truck right now.
WHITFIELD: But the 911 dispatcher didn't take Robert seriously.
DISPATCHER: Emergency 911, what is the problem?
TURNER: My mom has passed out.
DISPATCHER: Where's the grownups at?
TURNER: (inaudible)
DISPATCHER: Let me speak to her. Let me speak to her before I send the police over there.
WHITFIELD: The police were not sent. Some three hours later, Robert called again, with the same result.
TURNER: (inaudible)
DISPATCHER: I don't care. You shouldn't be playing on the phone. Now put her on the phone, before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you're going to be in trouble.
TURNER: Ugh.
WHITFIELD: When police finally arrived at 9:22 p.m., they found 46-year-old Sherrill Turner dead. The family is now planning a wrongful death lawsuit against Detroit Police.
PATTERSON: This was a child calling. There was no laughter and he repeated what he was saying.
TYRONE PATTERSON, VICTIM'S SON-IN-LAW: Everyone should be trained to treat every situation as an emergency. People do not just call 911 as a joke. My mom is passed out. The message was clear.
WHITFIELD: The union that represents dispatchers says about a quarter of all 911 calls are pranks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That operator could have had five prank calls, kids calling prior to that call and please don't -- think that I'm trying to make an excuse, you know, that was a tragedy.
WHITFIELD: The dispatcher who took the second call, an 18-year veteran remains on the job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know that operator. I know she is a very good operator. She is very thorough.
WHITFIELD: Detroit Police say the department is investigating the handling of the calls. For Robert, now six, the rights and wrongs of the case are less important than the sadness he feels.
TURNER: Every time somebody talk about her, I just bust out and start crying.
WHITFIELD: Fredericka Whitfield, CNN, Atlanta.