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The incident unfolded Jan. 12 when the neighbor of the stroke victim called 911, asking for help to be sent to their apartment complex, according to Duhaney. But the neighbor was on a different floor, and the dispatcher said the caller needed to be with the patient so that he could be asked a series of questions, according to Duhaney's note to council members.
The neighbor pleaded with the dispatcher, according to the city manager, telling the operator at various points in the call:
“He is getting worse and worse.”
“This is an emergency.”
“He’s had a stroke.”
“He has a stroke and has another one coming. He’s gonna die.”
“He’s going to die here.”
During the 8-minute call, Duhaney said the dispatcher told the caller, “We can’t force ourselves on him,” and, “If he doesn’t want help, they won’t do anything. He has to want to be helped.”
The 911 dispatcher also allegedly said, “There is nothing the fire department or police officers can do. They can’t force themselves on him.”
"Eventually the caller, hung up," Duhaney wrote. "The 9-1-1 call taker closed the call, no help was sent."
The next day, there was another 911 call from that same apartment complex, according to Duhaney: "The caller indicated that the individual who suffered the medical emergency the previous night had passed away."