Washington, D.C

Acting 911 director faces D.C. Council scrutiny over dispatch failures

Published

2 years ago

November 11, 2022

Acting 911 director faces D.C. Council scrutiny over dispatch failures

The appearing director of the District’s 911 emergency middle defended her company on Thursday as D.C. lawmakers questioned her over failures in dispatching first responders to emergencies, together with a number of wherein folks died.

“Below no unsure phrases and regardless of claims on the contrary, D.C. 911 will not be in a disaster,” Karima Holmes stated, including that operators discipline 1.4 million emergency calls every year, with 99 p.c of them dealt with appropriately.

However D.C. Council Member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who chairs the general public security committee, stated in his opening remarks at a digital roundtable dialogue centered on the company that “Persistently, we’ve seen cases of blown addresses, failure to relay up to date data to responding personnel, and delayed dispatches.”

Allen advised Holmes, appointed by the mayor in March and awaiting affirmation from the Council, that “Solely generally do I really feel that the company’s response has been forthright even in a confidential setting to me — whether or not or not the difficulty was truly because of the company’s conduct or misconduct.”

Holmes, who runs the company formally referred to as the Workplace of Unified Communications, stated about 150 errors are made every year in dispatching calls, attributed to a variety of things together with human error, defective know-how and protocols that want updating. However she famous that every name is from an individual in misery or in or witnessing a life-threatening state of affairs, and folks “depend on us to get it proper each time we get a name.” She stated “blown addresses have been a selected concern.”

Lawmakers, residents blast D.C.’s 911 name middle at council listening to

Thursday’s roundtable was a continuation of a September dialogue with council members that included testimony from relations who stated they misplaced family members after missteps in getting assist. Holmes needed to depart that listening to for a household emergency, delaying her testimony. She and members of her senior employees had been the one witnesses at Thursday’s session.

No date has been set for Holmes’s affirmation listening to, although these points with dispatching and her responses to them most likely will probably be raised the subsequent time she seems earlier than lawmakers. Allen is pushing for complete modifications within the company that quantity to a “basic cultural shift” in procedures and office operations.

Issues with the 911 middle have surfaced in current months following a number of deaths that adopted delays in dispatching, inaccurate addresses entered into techniques and miscommunication on the severity or kind of calls. They embody instances wherein firefighters had been despatched to the improper deal with for a new child in cardiac arrest in July and the delayed arrival of paramedics making an attempt to achieve a 3-month-old boy who had been left in a automotive in August. Each of the kids died.

A report issued by D.C. Auditor Kathleen Patterson in September stated the company had failed to totally implement many of the auditing workplace’s year-old suggestions to make enhancements. And Dave Statter, a public security advocate and former journalist, has stored the difficulty alive on Twitter, detailing what he describes as repeated failures.

Holmes stated every case wherein issues occurred are beneath scrutiny, and safeguards have been put in place “to scale back the probability of them taking place once more.” She added: “Each time there’s a blown deal with, each time there’s a mistake, it doesn’t imply that our name taker acted inappropriately.”

Allen advised Holmes the roundtable wasn’t “about taking part in gotcha,” however fairly to guage systemic points within the 911 middle. He stated a high concern is that it appeared dispatchers had problem updating calls as circumstances grew to become extra dire.

In a single case from March, Allen recalled a person appearing erratically and operating out and in of visitors close to the waterfront. As paramedics arrived, he grew to become “more and more violent” and ran to a special location. However dispatchers didn’t improve the urgency of the decision. Additionally they didn’t replace responding police to alert them that the person was now not on the unique location, delaying the response. The person was later discovered useless in Washington Channel in Southwest, Statter stated.

Allen described “a number of failures” in how the decision was dealt with.

Holmes stated modifications have been made to make sure that when police and fireplace officers “are requesting one another” for assist that the calls at all times get a “excessive precedence.”

Audit finds minimal progress made in bettering D.C.’s 911 system

Allen additionally pressed Holmes on delays reaching the 3-month-old reported trapped in a car for as much as an hour. As first responders headed to the placement, the caller advised the 911 operator that the child had been taken out of the automotive. That prompted the operator to cancel the emergency response earlier than realizing the caller had added that the child was not respiratory. The child died after a 13-minute delay in getting assist.

Holmes stated new protocols are in place to forestall such a name from being cleared earlier than first-responders arrive on the scene. However she additionally described the decision as extra sophisticated, with details about the kid being in peril not supplied till after the 911 operator had requested extra questions whereas terminating the emergency response.

Allen stated that regardless, the case illustrates “the center of what I’m making an attempt to get at” — difficulties getting assist to folks in “evolving conditions with new data.”

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Washington, D.C

List: What to do in the DC area this week and weekend, Jan. 13-19

Published

5 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

List: What to do in the DC area this week and weekend, Jan. 13-19

We share the best things to do every weekend in The Weekend Scene newsletter – it’s completely free to subscribe!

Call it D.C.’s biggest hits: Pandas, the Commanders, MLK Holiday DC Peace Walk & Parade are all on tap this week – and that’s before we even get to Inauguration Day!

Of course, if you want to see a panda this week, you must be a National Zoo member. But anyone can grab their free pass to visit the National Zoo once the pandas make their public debut on Jan. 24. The only thing you’ll need to see the pandas is your zoo pass… plus, patience and warm clothes. Expect a line to get into the panda habitat!

But everyone can watch the Commanders face the Lions at 8 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday, sixth-seeded Washington upset the No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Can they clinch against the division leader? Every sports bar will be screening this highly anticipated showdown.

Here’s what else to do this week in the Washington, D.C. area.

What to do in Washington, D.C.

Hands-on Landscape Painting with Paloma Vianey: Weds., 6-8 p.m., Phillips@THEARC, 1801 Mississippi Ave, SE, free but registration required

NMWA Nights: Weds., 5:30 to 8 p.m., National Museum of Women in the Arts, $25

DC Improv Date Night: Weds., 7:30 p.m., DC Improv, $99 for food and drink package or $15 for general admission

Rock the Rink at The Wharf: Thurs., 6-10 p.m., The Wharf Ice Rink, anyone in Capitals gear gets $5 off admission

National Symphony Orchestra on the Millennium Stage: Fri., 6 p.m., The Kennedy Center, free but arrive early to get tickets

MLK Shabbat: Visions of Freedom and Justice: Fri., 7 p.m., Sixth & I, free

Concert: Mo Lowda & The Humble and Illiterate Light: Fri., 8 p.m., 9:30 Club, $25

20th Annual MLK Holiday DC Peace Walk & Parade: Sat., 11 a.m., Entertainment & Sports Arena, free

MLK Day of Service: Pope Branch Park cleanup with Anacostia Riverkeeper: Sat., 2900 M Place Southeast, free

Nerd Nite irreverent lecture series: Sat., doors 6 p.m., DC9, $10 (in advance) or $15 (day of)

Black A** Comedy: Sat., 7 p.m., Busboys and Poets 14th Street, $25

Charli x Sabrina x Chappell Dance Party: Sat., Black Cat, $10

Defying Gravity: A Wicked Party: Sat., Union Stage, $15+

Ye Olde Feast of Saint Vincent of Zaragossa!: Sun., 2 p.m., St. Vincent Wine at 3212 Georgia Ave NW, $72

Let Freedom Ring Celebration featuring Christopher Jackson and esperanza spalding, hosted by Taye Diggs: Sun., 7:30 p.m. The Kennedy Center, free (note: ticket giveaway begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Hall of Nations, limited to two tickets per person)

Union Stage Presents: Rare Essence , EU feat. Sugar Bear, DCVybe: Sun., 8:30 p.m., Howard Theatre, $55

Last chance – “Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment”: Through Sun., the National Gallery of Art, free

What to do in Maryland

Theater: “What the Constitution Means to Me”: Jan. 15 to Feb. 16, Round House Theatre, $50+

SA-ROC (+ DJ OSO Fresh After Party): Fri., BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown, $35

Yoga at Brookside Gardens: Sat., 9:30 a.m., Wheaton, $14

Say It Loud: A Celebration of the Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Sat., BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown

Be’la Dona Brunch: Sun., 2 p.m., Bethesda Theater, $41.45 (including fees)

“Paper Dreams” at Imagination Stage: Through Feb. 16, Bethesda, $19.50

What to do in Virginia

Sean Gavin and Josh Dukes in Concert: Thurs., 7-9 p.m., Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum, $25 ($10 under 18)

Comedy – Justin Martindale: Fri. and Sat., Arlington Cinema Drafthouse, $20

Silly Suds: Humorous Soapmaking Workshop: Sat., 9 a.m. to noon, Del Ray Artisans Gallery in Alexandria, $45-$55, plus $10 supply fee (must register by Weds.)

NOVA Wine Expo: Sat., 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Dulles Expo Center, $40+

Presidential Transitions Lecture & Historic Document Viewing: Sat., noon to 3 p.m., George Washington Presidential Library, $10

La Vang Lunar New Year Festival: Sat. and Sun., Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, $10 ($5 with student ID or for kids 2 to 11)

Comedy Night in Leesburg Presented By The DC Improv: Sat., Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, $20-$32

Ice & Lights-The Winter Village at Cameron Run: Through Feb. 23, Cameron Run Regional Park in Alexandria, $8.55+

Want to know what’s up for your weekend? Sign up for The Weekend Scene, our newsletter about events, experiences and adventures for you and for your family around the DMV.

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Washington, D.C

Inauguration Day: Security zones and checkpoints in Washington, D.C.

Published

13 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Inauguration Day: Security zones and checkpoints in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Capitol will be on lockdown during inauguration day. More than 30 miles of anti-scale fencing has been erected at key locations in Washington, D.C. Thousands of National Guard troops will be on duty to support the Secret Service.

“The Secret Service will bring agents and other specialists from field offices across the country to provide a full slate of visible and invisible security measures,” said William McCool from the U.S. Secret Service.

FBI Director Christopher Wray stated, “We’re not tracking any specific or credible threats to the inauguration.”

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There will be several layers of security, including a pedestrian-restricted zone with 40 checkpoints. This zone covers the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and the National Mall. All vehicles will be checked for bombs or other weapons on three sides of the White House and west to Union Station. On the southwest corner of Washington, D.C., all roads will be closed along the Potomac River.

“We’re dealing with a threat landscape where terrorists, whether they be foreign, jihadist-inspired, or domestic terrorists or others, can move from radicalization to action quite quickly, often with very crude but still lethal attacks,” Wray said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray also mentioned that the Secret Service, Homeland Security, and Capitol Police are taking the lead on inauguration security. “What I would tell you is that I have enormous confidence in the FBI’s men and women in our role as supporting the other agencies, which have the primary responsibility for securing the inauguration,” he added.

Visitors with questions about checkpoints and other security measures can find more information here.

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