After listening to the 911 recordings of the calls that were placed at the time of the collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, it is quite clear that the colossal ineptitude of the emergency services operator may have contributed to the loss of lives during those fateful hours of June 24th.
If one listens carefully, the attitude of the operators was not only lacking empathy, but they also exhibited the inability to think on their feet. When the man who was justifiably frantic accidentally gave the incorrect address of the building, the operator kept giving him an argument, saying that he left out a number in the address. Since the man kept repeating the incorrect number but acknowledged that the Champlain was located at 88th Street and Collins based on the number he received, the operator could have tracked the call and immediately dispatched the location to emergency service personnel unit.
The other 911 operator’s attitude was also not helpful. She too detected that the man on the other end of the phone was frantic and that a parking garage roof was collapsing. He heard the sheer panic in his voice yet remained committed to eliciting details from the man who was clearly unable to provide them. Shame on her insouciance at a time when lives could have been saved.
In addition to investigations being launched against building developers and those responsible for the collapse of the Champlain Towers, it would behoove the city of Miami and the Miami Beach area to reassess the functionality and effectiveness of the their local government. On the upside, Miami-Dade mayor Daniella Levine Cava did a truly magnificent job in informing the public of the latest recovery updates at the Surfside building collapse scene, while displaying compassion and understanding towards the enormous grief that families were going through. We thank her for being up there before the eyes of the media each and every day despite the stress that accompanies that.
On the down side, the behavior of the 911 operators was beyond appalling and stood in direct contradiction to the heroic stances that the Miami-Dade Fire, Police and Rescue units proudly took. And this certainly includes the invaluable help that the Israeli Defense Forces Home Command provided.
It was truly painful to hear the 911 tapes and the agony and anguish that occurred just moments before the condominium collapsed. We pray that all governments in all cities, towns and hamlets across this country begin to retrain their emergency service personnel who take and respond to 911 calls. Lives depend on it as we tragically witnessed in Surfside.
