frustrates dispatchers

Staff Writer

Union County 911 dispatchers said trying to save the life of a York kayaker was a team effort involving many people, including some not directly involved in the rescue effort.

And even with the best technology in place, sometimes it is not enough -a fact that is frustrating, they said.

Saturday evening, 911 received a call that a man who had been kayaking with his brother and nephew on the Tyger River was having chest pains. Johnny Steven Davis, 58, died before rescuers could get to him in the thickly wooded area that was miles from a paved road.

911 assistant director Robert Garner said dispatchers were able to pinpoint the area where Davis was located using GPS and a signal from his brother's phone. Regional 1, the medical transport helicopter from Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, also is equipped with GPS. The crew lighted the area to help rescuers find the kayakers.

Two shifts at 911 were involved in dispatching emergency personnel to the scene. The first shift of Esther Starnes, Robert Colson and Tracey Hardin took the original call around 5 p.m. The next shift of Nikia Brannon, Amy Moss and Rick Mallett came on at 8 p.m. as the rescue effort continued. Mrs. Starnes said when the dispatchers learned Davis had died, it was heartbreaking.

“People don't realize how rough it can be in here,” she said. “Some people think taking phone calls is all you do. But you've got feelings in here.”

The call was especially hard on Colson, who primarily stayed on the phone with Davis' brother and who instructed him and the nephew in CPR efforts. Cell phone service in the remote area was inadequate and Colson kept losing the caller.

“I really, really wanted them (rescuers) to get down there to him because I spent so much time on the phone with his brother,” said Colson, who has been a dispatcher since 1997. ”I have had calls that ended well and calls that didn't end well. Some you have a harder time getting past and this one really bothered me.”

Colson said he lost the call from Davis' brother around a dozen times.

“I would try to call him back and it would go straight to his voice mail,” he said. “He would call back and I'd grab the phone and try to let him know that we had people trying to find them. Despite all that, this gentleman watched his brother die in front of him.”

Colson said dispatchers often play situations over and over in their heads and second guess themselves. This was one of those times.

“But I think as a team effort, Tracey, Esther and myself did the best job we could have done,” he said.

Numerous emergency personnel helped out in the rescue effort, including the Union County Rescue Squad, Union County EMS, the Minutemen Rescue Team, Southside, Santuck and Buffalo fire departments, the U.S. Forestry Service and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources officers.

As the rescue effort for Davis was underway, another emergency developed. Jonesville, Bonham and Kelly-Kelton fire departments were dispatched to a house engulfed in flames on Hames Avenue in Jonesville.

Mrs. Starnes said in an effort to help out dispatchers, Union Public Safety Department officers and deputies with the Union County Sheriff's Office held their radio traffic to a minimum. Sgt. Jimmy Johnson with the sheriff's office came to 911 and tried to help with the map study of Davis' location.

Also, people in Union County with scanners, including an Eaves Road resident and a firefighter familiar with the Tyger River, suggested remote roads the rescuers might use to get to Davis.

Miss Hardin said each time Davis' brother called in, GPS plotted him around the same area on the river.

“But he was in such a wide space of nothing but woods and we couldn't find any close roads,” she said.

Miss Hardin said she and the other dispatchers felt compassion for Davis' family members in the woods with him who built a fire and gathered next to him to try and keep him warm. It was thought hypothermia might have played a part in his death - earlier in the trip he had fallen in the water and gotten wet but he had put on dry clothes.

She said Colson did an excellent job in instructing CPR, including giving advanced directions in the event the call was lost.

During the effort to locate Davis, two Union County Rescue Squad members had difficulty navigating the river, which was full of fallen trees and other hazards. They eventually had to abandon their boat and ask for help. They were wet and the temperature had dropped rapidly. Mrs. Brannon commended rescuers who went after them and located them.

Garner said Union County is fortunate to have its advanced mapping system with the GPS capabilities and dispatchers are well-trained in how to use them. He said the equipment helps both in locating callers who need help and those who are making prank calls. He pointed out that oftentimes parents will give children old cell phones, not realizing that even though they are no longer paying for service the phone still is capable of calling 911. Hoax calls are a dangerous misuse of emergency resources.

“Of course we are responsible for checking out all calls,” he said.

Garner also said U.S. Forest Service personnel have warned that there is not enough water in local rivers to permit safe navigation.