AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A system that’s supposed to get help to you faster but instead is causing calls to go unanswered and delays with deadly outcomes for taxpayers in Richmond County.

For the past six months, the I-TEAM has been investigating Augusta’s 911 dispatching for fire stations across Richmond County.

It’s raising the question: How do you know if first responders will show up when it’s you and your family calling for help?

That was the reality for Waralene Currie, who lives in Richmond County.

An early morning emergency is now a blur for her. She can’t remember much — because she wasn’t awake when first responders arrived at her home.

FULL I-TEAM COVERAGE:

A 911 report sheds light on what happened that morning her family called 911 for help. She was unconscious and her family was doing CPR while waiting for first responders to arrive, according to the report.

“They didn’t think that I was going to pull through,” said Currie.

On August 31, 2022, at 1:50 a.m., Currie’s family called 911 for help as she was having a heart attack. 911 dispatchers send an ambulance and firefighters trained as EMTs.

It takes 11 minutes for dispatch to notice Augusta Fire Station 16 isn’t responding, according to 911 documents and dispatch radio traffic. After those 11 minutes pass by — dispatch calls for Engine 16 twice in a matter for 35 seconds.

Engine 16 was the initial unit called to Currie’s home.

Another five minutes tick by, but 911 has to dispatch to a completely different station. Engine 6 responds to the call instead.

After being dispatched, Engine 6 radios to dispatch asking if 16 is responding to the call. Dispatch responds saying, “That’s affirmative but they weren’t acknowledging Purvis. I couldn’t get ahold of Engine Company 16. Engine 6, we were trying to call them on the telephone. They’re not answering.”

23 minutes go by before firefighters finally arrive at Currie’s home.

The I-TEAM reviewed 911 records and found Engine 16 never received the emergency call. Dispatch manually called the station landline, but no one heard it.

“By the time I got to the hospital, I had had a stroke along with a heart attack and was in there for a week,” said Currie.

Currie’s case is one of at least 139 dispatching errors discovered by the I-TEAM. That includes everything from car accidents to fires and medical emergencies, like the one experienced by Currie.

“In my case, it could’ve cost me my life,” said Currie.

For Tommy Williams’ family, the price of the problem cost two lives. Our I-TEAM shared their story first on April 29, 2024.

Teresa Ingram and Rex Williams didn’t make it alive from a house fire. Both were found inside just steps from the front door and just across the street from Station 16, which never received the initial call from dispatch.

“It’s literally right across the street from the fire department,” said one 911 caller.

The I-TEAM found hundreds of emails within the Augusta Fire Department. Emails like one saying, “Engine 13 was dispatched over Purvis — and did not receive tones. There was a 16-minute response to a call that was 200 yards from the station.”

Another email wrote, “There was a network outage — and the internet was down for over three to four hours. During that time, Purvis failed to work. If you did not manually send the call, they never received it.”

Purvis is part of Augusta’s 911 response equipment. A dispatcher types in a location.

Purvis is supposed to then dispatch help based on the location and urgency of the emergency.

The data goes through an interface designed by Tyler Technologies. The I-TEAM has now learned the city may have known Tyler Technologies was a potential problem three years ago.

MORE FROM THE I-TEAM:

An email from September 2021 shows issues with Tyler Technologies’ CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) interface when the Purvis System was being tested.

Purvis reached out to Tyler Technologies via email saying, “We obviously have been testing with Augusta Fire, and I am sensing their patience is wearing thin. But also, the next customer down the road, Nassau County Fire, is talking about canceling the project because this has been lingering for so long.”

The system failures have a face and a human cost. Through the I-TEAM’s open records request, we found out the Augusta Fire Department never tracked just how many times initial emergency calls went unanswered.

We know it was at least 139 calls because we confirmed that after spending four months reviewing county emails, but there could be more.

Currie’s case is a perfect example of the failure of this system. Her case may be a small percentage, but those are lifesaving services. These are things that people could die over, no matter if it’s one case or a thousand cases.

“It’s alarming. I would like to be able to call them and get the help that I need,” said Currie.

It appears the fire department only began to investigate after the I-TEAM started to investigate.

On March 12, 2024, James Perkins wrote, “As you may have heard, the news media is investigating calls that Purvis is not announcing. I would like to set up a meeting to discuss this and possibly reach out to Tyler and have them investigate. The latest incident occurred today for a working structure fire.”

Currie cherishes every day, but her sense of safety has been shaken since that morning two years ago.

The I-TEAM reached out to the Augusta Fire Department a handful of times for a sit-down interview with Fire Chief Antonio Burden.

They provided the I-TEAM a statement saying:

“Thank you for reaching out regarding the Augusta Fire Department. Chief Burden appreciates your interest in providing a comprehensive view of our operations to the citizens of Richmond County.

We believe our previous communications and the open records we have provided effectively demonstrate the Augusta Fire Department’s commitment to our dispatching system. Our mission is to keep the citizens of Augusta well-informed and to deliver professional and efficient emergency services, ensuring the protection of lives, property, and the environment within our community. At this time, we have no further comments on this matter. Thank you for your understanding and consideration.”

The I-TEAM previously reached out to Augusta Commissioner Catherine Smith-McKnight for comment on our ongoing investigation. She chairs the Public Safety Committee in Richmond County. She told the I-TEAM the issue would be brought up at a commission meeting on May 28, 2024.

The discussion of the I-TEAM report was moved to executive session. As of now, there has been no indication city leaders or fire officials have discussed our investigation in a legal meeting.

We’ll continue following this story and keep you updated as we uncover more information.

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