By SARAH KARUSH
The Associated Press
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — A wrongful-death lawsuit was filed in the case of a 6-year-old boy who called the emergency service after his mother collapsed and was told by an operator he should not be playing on the phone.
Attorney Geoffrey Fieger has said Sherrill Turner, who had an enlarged heart, would have survived Feb. 20 if help had been sent immediately.
The lawsuit was filed Monday 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. An amount was not specified in the lawsuit.
“We teach our children in the face of an emergency to call for help and call 911,” Fieger said at his offices in the Detroit suburb of Southfield. “But when children call and ask for help, they’re ignored, they’re dismissed and they’re threatened.”
Robert Turner, who was 5 at the time, was alone with his mother when she collapsed in the bedroom. In the first call, he told the operator that his mother had passed out, but the operator asked to speak with an adult.
When he called back about three hours later, he repeated that his mother had passed out. Another operator said: “You shouldn’t be playing on the phone.” Later she said: “Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you gonna be in trouble.”
Police eventually arrived at the house after the second call, but Turner already was dead. An ambulance never came.
Fieger, best known for defending assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, said it was not the only case where operators discounted a plea for help. He cited a woman, whom Fieger also represents, who called emergency services after she was shot in the head and was asked by an operator if she was a mental patient.
Fieger said she became paralyzed as a result of her injuries. A lawsuit was filed in October against Detroit dispatchers.
Messages seeking comment on the lawsuits were left Monday for city lawyer John Johnson. Detroit police have said they are investigating the emergency response in Turner’s death.
Detroit’s emergency service receives about 2 million calls a year, said police spokesman James Tate. A large portion of them are pranks or non-emergency situations for which the emergency number should not be used.