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Daily Commercial, The (Leesburg, FL)
February 28, 2008
Errors in 911 responses plague city
Author: Roxanne Brown
CLERMONT - At least two 911 calls last week were routed incorrectly, prompting city officials
to call for a "meeting of minds" to discuss the confusion that might have lead to the problems
and solutions to avoid any in the future.
After learning of the problem, Councilman Ray Goodgame informed city officials who agreed
that attention to the matter was a necessity before a few "lost minutes" turn into something more
severe.
City Manager Wayne Saunders plans to schedule a meeting with Lake County Manager Cindy
Hall, county Commissioner Elaine Renick and others.
"I want to sit down and have a roundtable discussion on how to best approach these problems,"
Goodgame said. "Public safety is critical and must be protected at all cost."
On Feb. 23, Goodgame described two incidents in an e-mail to city and county officials. In the e-
mail, Goodgame reported that after a power outage, a King's Ridge family called 911. Family
members required electricity for life support and were unsure how long their battery would last.
Rescue workers took 18 minutes to respond.
The other call involved a fire in Clermont. In both cases, city and county crews arrived at about
the same time.
"It could mean somebody's life," Councilman Stephen Berlinsky said.
In Clermont, 911 calls made from land lines are connect to operators at the Clermont Police
Department, who in turn contact the appropriate service from there.
"The Clermont Police Department is our nerve center," Goodgame said.
The two emergency calls were made from cell phones. The callers connected to operators at the
sheriff's office in Tavares. The calls were transferred to Lake-Sumter Emergency Medical
Services in Mount Dora before being connected to workers in Minneola.
Officials are wondering if the cellular calls connected to towers in Leesburg instead of going to
Clermont's police department.
Clermont Police Department's Lt. Eric Jensen said he is not aware of any 911 problems but
confirmed that cellular signals in the city could connect with towers outside Clermont.
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