City investigates after Pa. woman dies during slow 911 response

By Dave Davies
The Philadelphia Daily News

PHILADELPHIA — Infuriated by the New Year's Day death of a woman who waited more than an hour for a Fire Department ambulance, City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski plans an investigation and public hearings on 911 response times in the city.

"What happened to that woman is a disgrace," Krajewski said yesterday. "These response times are just unheard of. It's absolutely terrible."

Deborah Payne called 911 at 2:33 a.m. Jan. 1, an hour when New Year revelers typically flood the city's emergency medical system with calls. She was having trouble breathing.

It took more than an hour for an ambulance to reach Payne, and after she was loaded into it, it failed to start. By the time a second ambulance arrived, 1 hour and 40 minutes after her call, Payne was dead.

The medical examiner listed the cause of her death as morbid obesity.

The Daily News reported on Payne's death Jan. 3, just two weeks after City Controller Alan Butkovitz released a report slamming the city's 911 system for increasingly slow response times.

Krajewski, who is vice chair of Council's public-safety committee, said she'll introduce a resolution tomorrow authorizing the investigation into the city's emergency medical system.

Such resolutions usually are routinely approved.

Fire Department Executive Chief Daniel Williams said Commissioner Lloyd Ayers will cooperate with Krajewski and the committee.

"We welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues, and the councilwoman is right to be concerned about them," Williams said yesterday.

Ayers was grilled about 911 response times in Council's 2006 budget hearings, and he promised improvements. But Krajewski said yesterday it seems things have gotten worse.

"I don't blame the Fire Department," Krajewski said. "They need more equipment. Public safety has always been our priority in Council, but it seems they're being shortchanged."

Ayers has said improvements to the emergency communications system are under way, and he hopes to reduce the demand for ambulance service by encouraging the public to call 911 only for emergencies.

But Ayers also has said the department could use more equipment and personnel.

Last week, city Finance Director Rob Dubow asked all departments to prepare plans to save up to 5 percent of their budgets in the next fiscal year, through efficiencies or revenue enhancements.

It's not clear how the city's budget issues will affect efforts to improve the 911 system.