Yet another emergency call being dispatched from Sampson’s communication center sent rescue personnel to the wrong location over the Labor Day weekend, at least the second such “error” delaying response times in the last few weeks.
The latest call, which came in just before 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, dispatched Newton Grove fire and rescue, Suttontown EMS, the Piney Grove Fire Department and the North Carolina Highway Patrol to a vehicle crash on I-40 eastbound near Mile Mark 348.
The accident actually occurred on I-40 at Mile Marker 358.
According to sources dispatched to the location, rescue units arrived on scene to find the crash had actually occurred at the 358-mile marker eastbound.
That accident was the same one which claimed the life of a Wendell woman whose vehicle caught fire after striking a median and then a bridge piling just off the eastbound lanes of I-40.
Units from the Faison Fire Department were dispatched since it was within their response area, Sgt. Matt High said Saturday. And a rescue source noted that when Sampson rescue units arrived, all teams began fire suppression operations.
The delayed response is one of two or more such incidents that have occurred in Sampson County recently, something Taylors Bridge Fire Chief Alan Williams brought to the Independent’s attention last week because of his frustration and concern for what he claimed were “errors” that were hampering response times to emergency calls. Williams said there had been two or three of the incidents.
Among those errors was a fire call that sent responding units to the incorrect address — somewhere on Keener Road as opposed to the fire location at 215 Hall Farm Lane.
While the county’s Emergency Services director, Rick Sauer, could not be reached for comment about the incidents Williams described early last week, he responded later, saying that simple human error was the cause.
“I don’t know what comments he (Williams) made but I can tell you that we made a mistake and that it was a human error,” Sauer said in another article appearing in today’s paper. “While true, nobody comes to work saying, ‘let’s see if I can make a mistake today, right?”’
The ongoing problems are happening across the country, according to Sauer, who noted a big factor contributing to its cause is employee retention.
“We have some talented and dedicated telecommunicators, but many of them are newer employees, and they have limited experience,” he said. “This is a nationwide problem, it’s not just in Sampson County, and it’s a recruitment and retention problem.”
Sauer did say there was no room for mistakes.
Sampson County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jerol Kivett declined comment on the issues, saying he felt it was inappropriate to do so at this time.
“But I can assure you that this is a top priority for all parties involved,” Kivett attested.
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