In his first call to 911, Curtis Mitchell sounded calm, explaining to dispatchers that his “entire stomach [was] in pain.”

By the time his longtime girlfriend made a 10th call nearly 30 hours later, she was frantic. He wasn’t breathing. He was cold to the touch…

I sat up here with him, watching him die,” Ms. Edge said Tuesday, after city officials apologized to her and pledged immediate changes in emergency response after Mr. Mitchell’s death on Feb. 7. “They didn’t do their jobs like they were supposed to…”

Ambulances were dispatched three times on Saturday, Feb. 6, to the couple’s home in the 5100 block of narrow Chaplain Way, but couldn’t get there because of the snow. Paramedics twice asked whether Mr. Mitchell could walk to an intersection, even after he told them that he could not because he was in too much pain.

Emergency vehicles were within blocks of his home three times — once so close Ms. Edge could see the ambulance lights from her porch — but did not make contact with him. They finally reached the home on Sunday morning, Feb. 7, but Mr. Mitchell was already dead.

“We should have gotten there,” Public Safety Director Michael Huss said. “It’s that simple.”

Yes – you should have.




  1. akroeze says:

    I have a feeling there is more to the story than is in the article. It strikes me that they were going for exactly what you are giving them, an emotional gut response.

  2. ECA says:

    #32,
    It reads pretty well..
    It has the calls, and the response from 911..including personal response from 911.

    The problem was the ROADS and weather..AND at the FINAL point, that they didnt send ANYONE in the end.

  3. amodedoma says:

    This reminds me of a call we got when I was on a volunteer ambulance corps in PA as an adolescent. We got a call from dispatch about a woman suffering chest pains, so we roll on it. When we get there it’s this three story row home, and yep, she was on the third floor. So when we get up there my first reaction was, good god – how in the hell are we gonna get her through the door, much less down the steps – she must’ve weighed like 400 pounds. An hour and a half of grunting and groaning and sweat, thats how. I would’ve much preferred going through a couple of blocks in waist high snow. I guess these people getting paid to rescue strangers don’t do as good a job as volunteers rescuing their neighbors.

  4. The0ne says:

    #34
    One’s life is definitely subjective. Problem is stupid people will make more use of the fact and choose otherwise to do nothing instead.

    Doesn’t it strike some of your as shocking or even frightening that we have people like this out there “serving” the public? Mind you I’m talking about cops, EMTs, hospitals, and even companies I worked for that makes products for nasa and boeing. Sickening.

    But in the end, as in DC comics, evil wins because man just plain suck at standing up. So to most of you at DU, suck it and suck it hard.

  5. ECA says:

    35,
    I always wonder about persons that Pray for everything.
    Praying for a better world when MOST of the problems are those of Mankind’s making, is like Screaming at DADDY that billy HIT YOU.. HIT him back. THEN get off your rump and DO something about it. It will get done Quicker and BETTER.


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