Notification Snafu Leads to Crash Response Failure in Norwich, CT
Daniel Drainville
The Day, New London, Conn.
(TNS)
Norwich — Occum Volunteer Fire Chief Scott Eggert, whose department did not respond to an accident in the Occum fire district last week that claimed the life of a Massachusetts man, said firefighters did not immediately receive notifications on their phones about the crash.
Eggert said on Thursday there was an issue with First Due, a third-party notification system implemented in late March and used by both paid and volunteer firefighters to alert them to incidents by sending push notifications directly to their cellphones. First Due is meant to replace IamResponding, another third-party app used exclusively by volunteers, which also provides notifications.
The new notification system was implemented the same time as the city's new computer-aided dispatch system, Motorola PremierOne.
Other ways firefighters can be notified about incoming calls include radios in the firehouses, mobile data terminals and city-issued pagers. Pagers, which cost about $1,000 each, are meant to be the primary method of notification for fire calls, city Fire Chief Sam Wilson said.
In terms of how many of my members actually carry the pager, I would say probably about 50%," Eggert said. "And those are the ones that are usually out and about, not by their house, and want the reassurance of having a backup other than relying on their phone."
No response
On April 21, at 10:49 a.m., Occum and city firefighters were dispatched to the northbound side of Interstate 395, between Exits 14 and 18, for a rollover accident with serious injuries, and with extrication required — a sign that someone would have to be freed.
Jacques Bertheau, 78, of Brockton, Mass., had been driving a 2004 Nissan Xterra when his car went off the right shoulder of the highway and struck the Lawler Lane overpass. He was ejected from the vehicle, which came to rest in the middle of the highway south of Exit 18.
Police initially called a Life Star helicopter for Bertheau, but it was cancelled by on-scene medical personnel. Bertheau was taken by ambulance to Backus Hospital and later transferred to Hartford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The highway was shut down for several hours.
Occum firefighters never responded.
Eggert explained that no one had been at the fire station at 44 Taftville-Occum Road when the department was dispatched to the accident.
He said three firefighters had their pagers — or heard the station siren — and responded to the station to wait for more personnel to arrive so they could get a truck out to the highway.
Other members without pagers did not receive the First Due phone notification until 27 minutes after the call went out.
"So, they didn't make it to the station until, obviously after the 30-minute mark, when they got it," he added.
Eggert could not provide any screenshots or records proving there was a delay, but said multiple firefighters said they saw the call notification later.
"That's just basis of what my members were telling me — that it took that long before an alert came in," he said.
Representatives of First Due could not be reached to comment.
Asked why the department did not respond after the 30-minute delay, Eggert said the patient had already been taken away by ambulance at that point, and that there were already a sufficient number of Norwich firefighters on the highway. He said members of his department were on stand-by in the event of another call.
Wilson said his department all received the notifications.
"We have 60 members, and nobody has found any members with the (First Due) application," he said. "We're working with Occum to try to figure out what's going on."
He further questioned why the department's members did not have their pagers.
The Yantic, East Great Plain and Occum departments have traditionally handled highway accidents in their respective coverage areas.
Accidents between Exits 14 and 18 are usually delegated to Yantic — which is still shut down in a dispute with the city — and Occum. Those between Exits 11 and 13 are delegated to Occum and East Great Plain, Eggert said. Yantic and East Great Plain each have heavy rescue equipment for taking apart cars if necessary.
Eggert said after Occum firefighters failed respond to the crash call, dispatch should have called for the next closest fire station.
Citing city policy, Eggert said dispatch should have tried to "re-tone" the Occum department again after five minutes.
"And if a department doesn't get out, (policies) are in place so the next unit that's closest can also respond," Eggert said. "And in this case, that never happened.
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