By Charlotte L. Jacobson
The Citizens’ Voice
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — The Luzerne County 911 Call Center employee who sent emergency crews to a Wilkes-Barre address instead of a Kingston home where a man had a heart attack and later died resigned Monday, according to Luzerne County officials.
Early Thanksgiving morning, Vincent Marcario, 46, was lying in bed after staying up all night preparing Thanksgiving dinner when he suffered a heart attack.
Family members struggled to preform CPR in a cramped bedroom until help arrived, but an error in the Luzerne County 911 Call Center sent emergency crews to the wrong home. Family members say it might have cost Marcario his life.
The Luzerne County 911 Call Center released information, claiming responsibility for the mistake.
According to the press release, “the caller stated that the emergency medical services were needed at ‘36 South Gates Avenue, Kingston.’ At this time, the caller was asked if it was Kingston Township or Kingston Borough and the caller stated she thought it was “Borough, by Kirby Park.”
The call-taker then mistakenly routed the call for dispatch to 36 S. Gates St. in Wilkes-Barre.
It was not until Marcario stopped breathing that his family called the center again and the ambulances rerouted to the correct address.
After an initial investigation proved the computers were in proper working order, it was established that the first call-taker violated internal Luzerne County 911 protocol.
The call-taker was first put on suspension pending an internal investigation, but later resigned from employment with the county.
The identity of this employee has not been released to the public.
This incident is not the first in the county in which a life was lost following a 911 dispatch error. Just six months prior to Marcario’s death, a fire claimed the life of Michelle Dzoch, 52, when another 911 call-taker sent emergency crews to the wrong address.
In that incident, fire crews were sent to the borough of Conyngham instead of Mocanaqua, a section of Conyngham Township.
Luzerne County 911 dispatched emergency crews to a location 15 miles away — an address fire crews later determined didn’t exist.
The Mocanaqua fire department is one-tenth of a mile from where Dzoch’s house was on fire.
According to the 911 Call Center press release, the Luzerne County 911 center “will continue to handle any and all calls as per established protocols and training. Any deviation from these protocols is unacceptable, and Luzerne County 911 will aggressively address any and all issues contrary to its mission …”
A lawsuit has been filed for Dzoch’s death against Luzerne County.
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©2014 The Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)