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By Mike Barnhardt
Enterprise Record

It took almost 30 minutes for a Davie EMS crew to be dispatched to a scene where a man died after a fight in late October.
And the county’s response to an apparent error by an E911 telecommunicator – or lack thereof – is drawing fire from a former telecommunicator and at least one officer from a local fire department.
Sherri Kiestler, a former Davie E911 employee, took her concerns to county commissioners earlier this month, stating the problems start at the top, mentioning the director and the assistant director.
Kiestler told commissioners she was speaking on behalf of former telecommunicators and other county residents.
The incident in question was on late evening on Oct. 26, when a fight at gathering left a man – Shane Crotts – unconscious. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. Joel Johnson was charged with his murder.
“This was a tragic loss of life due to a critical error in our 911 system,” Kiestler told commissioners. “It took 29 minutes to get help on the scene … as a daughter watched her dad die in front of her as she begged for help. They reassured that help was on the way when it wasn’t.”
Kiestler said it was difficult to listen to the entire 911 call, which included instructions from the dispatcher on how to help the victim.
It turns out, the incident occurred at an Advance address on NC 801 South; the dispatcher initially routed the call to NC 801 N., some 17 miles away.
“Not once was the address repeated back to the caller, which is protocol.” The dispatcher got upset and told the caller she had told her multiple addresses, which she hadn’t, Kiestler said. “The telecommunicator wasn’t listening. They stated the correct address at least five times that I counted.”
She said the assistant director was on duty that night, and neither she or the dispatcher used common sense.
“The instructions to the caller were all over the place. The telecommunicator lost control of the call and someone died. There was absolutely no reason for this to happen.”
She said dispatchers need to be trained to think, rather than just to read questions off of a screen.
“This is a perfect example of unprofessional leadership. There is zero accountability in that building. It is essential we hold individuals responsible. The director and assistant director of 911 communications need to be held just as accountable as the ones in the room taking the calls. These failures are due to this lack of leadership. Those two are the sources of infection for that center.”
Kiestler went on to say that someone at the 911 center said a member of the Cooleemee Fire Department who had posted a complaint “had better not call for help … We might not hear him.”
Cooleemee Deputy Fire Chief Doug Arledge had made a Facebook post on Nov. 14.
He wrote, in part: “Some serious mistakes were made that led to this heartbreaking loss. The telecommunicators at the Davie County 911 center failed miserably. They were told five times the correct adress but sent units to the wrong location, delaying care for nearly 20 minutes. This could have made a life-or-death difference.”
Arledge wrote that the assistant director “falsely claimed” the caller had changed the address.
“This negligence raises serious concerns about acountability and the credibility of those in these positions,” Arledge wrote. “In other cases … across the country … dispatchers have faced severe consequences for errors that resulted in patient deaths. Yet here, the dispatcher involved has faced no real repercussions – just a slap on the wrist.
“Shane’s family deserves justice and answers. We need to demand accountability for the mistakes that led to this tragedy and ensure that no other family has to go through this pain. The citizens of Davie County deserve better,” Arledge wrote.
The punishment for the dispatcher, according to Kiestler, was a demand they work over Christmas and not be allowed to attend a state conference next year.
County Manager Brian Barnett told WXII TV 12 News the county, in response, was enhancing maps and training.
“This is well and good, if they didn’t already have access to that information on at least one of the several monitors at each console,” Kiestler said. “The county gave a very generic response to this tragic error. They state they have added an additional staff member to their training team to help with training and continuing education, ‘especially with our newer staff members.’ However, the telecommunicator who made this grave mistake is not a new staff member, they have over 20 years experience.
“When is the county going to start holding more people accountable? When someone else dies after it taking 29 minutes to get help.”
After the initial 911 call was made at 11:43 p.m., a Davie Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived at the NC 801 N. address, telling dispatchers that nothing was going on there. They arrived at the correct address just after midnight, with fire department first responders right behind them.
In the meantime, family members were performing CPR.
Barnett said that county officials are not medical professionals, and have no idea whether the delay in repsonse led to the patient’s death.
Barnett’s statement, in part, read: “Davie County 911 Communications processes roughly 70,000 calls per year. Telecommunicators are processing information taken from callers and they are typing that information into our system. Because of the process, there is the possibility of a mistpye; however, a vast majority are caught quickly before being dispatched. This particular type of incident of this particular magnitude is a rarity.”