Every day tens of thousands of calls to 911 are handled by public safety answering points across the region. The vast majority of these calls are handled without significant incident, and some call become routine. In a scenario similar to the boy who called wolf, 911 hang ups, suspicious persons, burglar alarms, and Life Line activations can become mundane and cause both dispatchers and public safety workers to forget the gravity of the situations these calls can lead to. It only takes one call to cost someone, civilian or emergency worker, their life. Although no one can allow the situation that happened in Lowell to go without repercussion or consideration, we must keep in mind that something similar can happen in any city or town. Dispatchers and civil servants alike need to look at situations like Lowell and remember that every call needs to be handled with the professionalism it deserves regardless of the nature of the call.
Looking at the incident in a larger view, several other lessons can be learned. In today’s society most cities contract with a private ambulance service to provide for their city. This cross over of emergency services between the public and private sector does not come without it’s growing pains, and requires both sides to find a middle ground to work together. In the end lives depend on both the municipal system and the private system’s ability to work together and communicate clearly. We are reminded that communication by phone, radio, in the field, and through administration needs to be fluid and standardized. There is no doubt that private ambulance companies are usually able to provide a level of care and service that municipalities need, but both the companies and the cities that contract them need to remember to work together as a team to serve the citizens of their city.
Another often overlooked breakdown was the availability of keys for emergency first responders. Allowing fire, police, and EMS quick access to buildings can be both a life and cost saving advantage. Having universal access for fire, EMS, and police is a difficult challenge bringing privacy, security, upkeep, and regulation concerns. Still, despite issues that can evolve from maintaining lock box systems, the benefit of having near instant access to a patient or fire should greatly outweigh the cons.
Quality improvement is a system widely used throughout the business world. The practice of reviewing others mistakes to improve ones own performance results in a better service to everyone involved. Incidents like the situation in Lowell are sad and should undoubtedly be unacceptable, however they provide a valuable learning experience for everyone.
