Dispatch confusion frustrates 911 caller

Man in cricial condition after KGB crash

By JOEL DAVIDSON-Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA -- Loe Schrader arrived first on the scene.

He was on his way toward Wasilla with his 3-year-old daughter on Wednesday, when he said he saw a truck jammed in a ditch at Mile 11.8 Knik-Goose Bay Road. Schrader said the truck's wheels were still spinning, creating a thick cloud of smoke over the road.

"I thought the truck was on fire," said Schrader, a Wasilla resident, "There was so much smoke, I couldn't even see through it as I drove by."

Schrader immediately dialed 911 on his cellular phone to get Emergency Medical Services on the scene, but as Schrader soon discovered, dialing 911 for help is not always as simple as it may seem.

Meanwhile, Big Lake resident James M. Aumick, 60, was laying in his totaled 2000 GMC pickup. He had suffered facial injuries and was unconscious. Alaska State Troopers said evidence from the scene suggested Aumick lost control of his truck and slid sideways across the center lane into the ditch. Troopers also report that Aumick's vehicle rolled multiple times, finally coming to a stop off the road.

Rescue workers extracted Aumick from his truck and transported him by helicopter to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, where he was listed in critical condition as of Friday afternoon.

When Schrader first dialed 911 on his cellular phone, he said his call was sent to the Anchorage Police Department. Sgt. Richard Stouff, from Anchorage Police, said his dispatcher in Anchorage did not have a good connection and she had to call Schrader back on his cell.

The dispatcher then reportedly told Schrader that the collision was not in the Anchorage jurisdiction and he needed to call the Wasilla Police Department. According to Stouff, this was a mistake on the part of his dispatcher. She should have automatically patched him to the Alaska State Troopers, but instead the dispatcher directed Schrader to call the WPD non-emergency business line.

After writing down the number and dialing it himself, Schrader contacted the non-emergency number at the Wasilla Police Department. According to Wasilla Police Chief Don Savage, the dispatcher at Wasilla automatically connected Schrader to the Palmer station because the Palmer dispatch is in charge of contacting all Emergency Medical Services providers in the Mat-Su Borough.

Schrader claims, however, that Wasilla dispatch never transferred him and that he was given the number for Palmer and had to dial it himself.

Savage said he has to take his dispatcher at their word at this point because Wasilla Police does not currently have the ability to record its non-emergency numbers. Savage said this will change soon.

"Next week we should have that equipment installed," Savage said.

Palmer Police Communications Supervisor Karen Ripley said she could not tell from their records whether or not Schrader's call was automatically transferred or whether he was forced to dial the Palmer number himself. Regardless, Ripley did say Schrader's call was received by the Palmer Police Department non-emergency business line. According to Ripley, if Schrader was transferred, he should have been transferred to the 911 line, not the business line.

"I didn't understand," Schrader said, "I thought 911 was emergency services."

Tonya Alston, the administrative assistant for the chief of police in Palmer, said that sometimes 911 calls made with a cell phone on Knik-Goose Bay Road get picked up in Anchorage and the call has to be transferred. Alston said the Anchorage and Wasilla police departments normally could have transferred Schrader directly unless there were some kind of communication problem or they were too busy.

Alston said that when people dial 911 in the Valley, the calls normally go directly to the Palmer dispatch center. From the Palmer dispatch, calls are then automatically sent to the appropriate agencies.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.