By EMS1 Staff
JOHNSON COUNTY, Ark. — A 911 system came under fire after a woman died in her driveway while waiting for an ambulance.
40/29 News reported that a woman called 911 after she found her sister, Sharon Lindemann, unresponsive in the driveway of their home.
“My sister’s down in the driveway and I can’t rouse her,” the caller said. “She’s got cuts and gashes on her leg and she’s got her hair pulled. I don’t know what happened. I just got home from work.”
“OK, let me transfer you to the hospital stay on the line,” the dispatcher said.
Officials said it took nearly four minutes for an ambulance to be dispatched, because the call was transferred from the sheriff’s department to the hospital and then to the ambulance dispatch.
Lindemann died in her driveway after being there for an unknown amount of time.
Sheriff Larry Jones said the system could be improved, but there are not enough funds to replace it.
“What if that call gets lost between our department and the hospital, and now the call’s not completed,” Jones said. “I think it’s a system that could use some work, I don’t have the answer for that.”