A 911 dispatcher has resigned after hanging up on a girl that was trying to help her dying friend.
17 year old Jaydon Chavez-Silver was shot in a drive-by at a party in Albuquerque and Esperanza Quintero was on the phone to 911, while trying to save his life.
Speaking to the girl, Matthew Sanchez asked her if he is breathing, to which she replies ‘barely’, and can be heard saying:
Just stay with me, okay. There you go, good job Jaydon.
After a few seconds, Sanchez asked her again if he is breathing, and she says:
He’s barely breathing. How many times do I have to fucking tell you?
At this point, Sanchez decides to terminate the call, saying:
OK, you know what ma’am? You can deal with this yourself. I’m not going to deal with this, OK?
Despite her starting to beg the dispatcher, he hangs up the call.
17-year-old Jaydon Chavez-Silver
An ambulance was dispatched to the scene location before the call had been terminated.
Paramedics arrived at the scene within four minutes and 26 seconds of being dispatched, but Chavez-Silver later died in hospital.
An investigation is currently underway, and a statement from the dispatch department is due any day soon.
There’s no way of knowing that Jaydon would have survived if the dispatcher had stayed on the phone and guided the girl until the paramedics arrived, and he isn’t accountable for the kid’s death, but it could only have helped.
Common sense seems to be going amiss these days. Yes, while I agree nobody should be sworn at in their job, especially when they are trying to help, the girl was helping her teenage friend that was dying right in front of her. Cut the girl some slack, especially as she wasn’t being aggressive or particularly horrible, she was clearly scared and frustrated at being asked the same question just moments after already answering.
