By Julia Ferrante
Tampa Tribune (Florida)
Copyright 2007 The Tribune Co. Publishes The Tampa Tribune
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Facing termination, a second county 911 dispatch supervisor resigned Monday after an investigation concluded she failed to provide life-saving advice to a man whose girlfriend was choking to death.
Lead Communications Officer Maureen Thomas opted for resignation when she was told she would be fired otherwise for “willful neglect,” incompetence and a slew of other charges for her role in the March 24 incident, Pasco County spokesman Eric Keaton said.
“At this time, I am tendering my resignation to be effective on April 24, 2007,” Thomas wrote in a letter dated Monday to Pasco County Personnel Director Barbara De Simone. “This is bittersweet since I have no choice in this matter.”
Thomas follows Communications Supervisor David Cook, 58, who took early retirement a day after the incident. Witnesses said that Cook refused twice and Thomas failed to act when dispatcher Jennie Montanino, who was not certified to instruct callers in the Heimlich maneuver and other emergency procedures, pleaded for help.
Chris Cooper of Land O’ Lakes had called 911 after he found his girlfriend, Nancy McGhee, choking on a piece of steak. Cooper did not know the Heimlich.
Montanino, who has worked for the county for a year, knows the procedure, but she is not certified as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher. Legally, she could not provide instructions, Emergency Services Director Anthony Lopinto said.
Montanino and others on the shift said Cook declined to take over the call because he did not want to deal with “a hysterical caller.” One dispatcher recalled Thomas saying, “I’m not getting on.”
Six minutes into the call, Cook agreed, but he became frustrated when Cooper said the Heimlich did not work. McGhee was dead when paramedics arrived at the home five minutes later.
When he found out McGhee had died, several on the shift said Cook joked, “She must have bit off more than she could chew.”
Legal Action Coming
McGhee’s mother, Martha Callahan of Lake Placid, said Monday she has hired an Orlando-area lawyer on behalf of her daughter’s four children to pursue legal action against the county. She declined to comment further, and her attorney could not be reached.
In a written response describing the incident, Thomas, who was second-in-command at the 911 call center, said she did not hear Montanino’s call for help. She said others may have misunderstood her as she was taking another call about a utility problem.
Lopinto said Thomas’s explanation is unacceptable.
“There were four other dispatchers on duty that night, and I asked them if there was any possible way Maureen Thomas or David Cook could have not known their assistance was needed, " he said. “They all said point blank there is no way. Voices were raised. Tones were raised. She even moved in their direction to get closer to them.”
In a two-page letter dated April 10, Lopinto recommended Thomas be terminated. He charged her with a number of offenses, including “willful neglect in performance of assigned duties;" insubordination; incompetence; and “immoral, unlawful, improper conduct or indecency” that affected co-workers, and the county’s reputation and goodwill in the community.
“We have concluded that you had a moral, ethical, professional and policy-driven obligation to act,” Lopinto wrote. “We have determined that there were a multitude of options available to you when confronted with this situation which required your immediate attention. Unfortunately, a series of bad decisions prevailed.”
Thomas, who had a near-exemplary record before the incident, is to receive unspecified vacation and sick time she had accrued during her tenure, Keaton said. She also may apply for retirement benefits through the state. Cook also may be eligible for retirement benefits.
Policy Changes
As a result of the investigation, Lopinto is making a number of policy changes. Chief among them, dispatchers no longer will be allowed to take calls without EMD certification, as is the case in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Training will be part of dispatchers’ orientation and 16 weeks of instruction, he said.
Battalion Chief Michael Gordon also has been appointed temporarily to oversee Cook’s successor and work with him or her on improving procedures. Lopinto also recommends forming an ad hoc committee to evaluate new and old policies.
In addition, dispatchers will be given more resources to deal with the stresses of their jobs, Lopinto said. Mental health experts are to meet with dispatchers in coming weeks and twice each year to help identify triggers that may have been missed with Cook and Thomas. The investigation revealed, for instance, that Thomas had difficulty balancing duties as a dispatcher and as backup for the EMD system.
The county received 214,000 emergency calls last year and an equal number of nonemergency calls, Lopinto said. Each call requires a balance of collecting information, determining which emergency units are best able to help and maintaining composure to keep callers calm.
Changes were in the works, Lopinto said, but the McGhee case expedited the process.
“It’s a wake-up call, and we need to take care of it,” he said.
He maintains that individuals, not the system, failed.
“I have never in my 30 years had somebody who had an obligation to act in a life-threatening situation and turned their back,” Lopinto said. “I can’t come up with a reason or reconcile it in my own mind why it happened.”