Sawyer Bill to Prevent Delays in Emergency Response Time
For Immediate Release:
Monday, May 21, 2007
Contact: Gabriel Mann
614 466-7041
gmann@maild.sen.state.oh.us
Sawyer Bill to Prevent Delays in Emergency Response Time
Legislation Follows Tragic Drowning Death of Franklin County 4-Year-Old Girl
(Columbus) – Senator Tom Sawyer (D-Akron) will introduce a bill on Tuesday prohibiting 911 operators or translators from discussing billing information for translation services before handling an emergency. The penalty for violating this law would be a fourth-degree misdemeanor, which mirrors the current penalty for misuse of 911 systems.
“The lives and safety of the public should take priority over billing information,” Sawyer said. “Any one of us could be struck by an emergency at any time, and, if the only witness did not speak English, we would want the quickest translation available.”
The bill comes as a response to the drowning death of a 4-year-old Franklin County girl earlier this month. The girl’s parents did not speak English and could not communicate with the 911 operator. The dispatch center employs a paid translation service for such emergencies. However, before informing the parents that an ambulance had been sent to the scene, the operator and a paid translator took a moment to discuss billing information for the translation service. The girl’s parents, concerned for their daughter and unaware of the ambulance’s dispatch, decided to drive her to the hospital. She was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
“While the delay in the translation may not have been long enough to have contributed to the girl’s death, it is not a risk we should accept,” said Sawyer. “The purpose of this bill is not to cast blame on the persons involved in this situation, but to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.”
This bill will be introduced with bi-partisan support. Senators Dale Miller (D-Cleveland), Robert Schuler (R-Sycamore Township), and Jason Wilson (D-Columbiana) are co-sponsoring the effort.
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