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Montana Dispatcher Suspended for April Fool's Joke
MISSOULA, Mont. - A 911 dispatcher in Missoula who broadcast a false report of an explosion as an April Fool's Day prank will be suspended for one week but will not be prosecuted.
Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg said Thursday it would be "extremely difficult" to establish criminal intent in the case.
The request for an emergency response came over the airwaves shortly after 8:30 a.m. on April 1, and the dispatcher told local fire and medical emergency services to respond to the Conoco bulk plant in Missoula for a large fire or explosion. The radio call was immediately followed by a request for cancellation, and there was little response from emergency crews.
Van Valkenburg says "the matter is better resolved through internal disciplinary proceedings rather than a criminal prosecution."
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Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg said Thursday it would be "extremely difficult" to establish criminal intent in the case.
The request for an emergency response came over the airwaves shortly after 8:30 a.m. on April 1, and the dispatcher told local fire and medical emergency services to respond to the Conoco bulk plant in Missoula for a large fire or explosion. The radio call was immediately followed by a request for cancellation, and there was little response from emergency crews.
Van Valkenburg says "the matter is better resolved through internal disciplinary proceedings rather than a criminal prosecution."
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Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by blair4630 on
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That's hilarious, great joke. I remember this one time, I had a 8 y/o boy we brought in for a broken arm. When we got to the hospital, I told the parents he had coded and we lost him....ahh April fools! The parents thought it was hilarious!
Are you f*#$ing serious??????????????????
This person obviously lacks the intelligence and common sense to be dispatching emergency services.
And as far as criminal intent, maybe not intent, but what about liability. How many LODD's are overweight, older volunteer ff's that code while responding to an incident. What if this had played out on this event? Then what?
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Permalink Reply by Wayne Peterson on
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Can't believe, what poor judgement, I like jokes but there is a limit. Should be fired and brought up on charges.
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Permalink Reply by Firewriter on
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It's one thing to name Google, "Topeka" for a day. That's funny! To put out an emergency call for a fire/explosion, then retract it ... and still have a job an hour later? That's criminal! "Little response from emergency crews", in my mind reads that some responders deployed ... culpability here Missoula! Terminate this employee - they are not worth the taxpayer's money or the lives of your emergency personnel.
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Permalink Reply by John Shunnarah on
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What an Idiot! I cannot believe the dispatcher would be that careless. I would vote for termination and criminal proceeding for endangering the public and the emergency responders lives.
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Permalink Reply by Grant Richardson on
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The dispatcher was wrong in what he/she did but, if as the article said, "The radio call was immediately followed by a request for cancellation", the crews wouldn't have made it from the dining room to engine room to start getting kitted up.
I believe termination of employment in this instance would be too harsh.
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Permalink Reply by John Cobb on
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No need for prosecution.
Ignorance? Stupidity? They should move on to another field of work. There is no room for people of that nature in our profession. Especially when it is so competitive to land one of these jobs. I'm sure a mature person with ethics is out there in need of a job.
Any alarm, false or legit, has potential for accidents.
Similar story...I do recall 20+ years ago when I was covering as a dispatcher. My superior called in a bogus emergency. He told me it was part of training. He said he wanted to know if I could handle a large scale emergency and make all the necessary decisions. Yes, I passed.
He didn't notify anyone else in the chain that it was part of training. For quite some time afterward, I had to explain myself to others as to what actually happened that day. To this day, I think his kind belong elsewhere.
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Permalink Reply by Justin Buck on
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wow i cant believe somebody would do something like this
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Permalink Reply by Bill Brierton on
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Can we say the dispatcher had a dumb moment......
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Permalink Reply by Ken Saunders on
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Some have justified this by implying the units didn't have time to leave the station....what about if a unit was returning to the station and heard the alarm go out? Let's play pretend for just a moment. You hear the alarm go off while stopped at a red light. Partner is a rookie, stomps on the accelerator and drives out into the intersection and wham! Your unit gets broadsided by a minivan with 4 kids inside. Now is it OK to only suspend the dispatcher?
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Permalink Reply by John on
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I'm thinking the discipline is a little to light, there is no room for that type of practical joke. How are all of the responders going to take that dispatcher seriously if they send out a large response in the future??
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Permalink Reply by James Borsellino on
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I have to agree that the dispatcher should have had more done to them. A person in that position should know the importance of professionalism. As one who is part of one of the largest fire services in North America, I am witnessing a change in the attitudes between Opreations crews (firefighters) and Support Staff (Dispatchers, Training Officers, etc) The attitude seems to be that Full Time Firefighters are spoiled, don't do any work and just sit around and watch TV all day, while Support staff do all the work. I even got one of our Captain Dispatchers to admit that they thing our FF's are all stupid. The biggest thing we all need to realise is, We all have jobs to do and they are all important jobs! If we just treat them as "JOBS", we loose our "Professionalism" In my books there is no place for un-professional actions whether we are Volunteers, Paid Part Time or Paid Full time. We have a job to do and that is SAVE LIVES and property!
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