911 call triggers confusion

Cell phone again snarls emergency response

LEHI — The 911 response to a worker injured when a 17-foot wall fell on him at a Traverse Mountain subdivision construction site Tuesday was muddled by confusion and communication problems.

It is the second report in as many weeks in Utah County that a 911 call made from a cell phone and the lack of technology to geographically pinpoint the source of the call has resulted in confusion affecting the emergency medical response.

In Tuesday's incident, officials said the 911 caller did not give dispatchers a specific address and instead only referenced Traverse Ridge, an area filled with numerous construction projects on both sides of the Utah and Salt Lake county line.

Also, although the accident occurred on the Utah County side of the line and the 911 call originated there, it was received by Salt Lake dispatchers.

In Tuesday's incident, during framing of a house near 4700 North and Pheasant Ridge in Lehi, a wall weighing an estimated 900 to 1,000 pounds fell and pinned a 27-year-old man, Lehi Fire Capt. Ricky Evans said. The man is believed to be from the Salt Lake area, but police would not release specific information, citing medical privacy laws.

Someone at the construction site called 911 using a cell phone, Evans said. But although the call was generated in Utah County, it was received at the Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center.

Capt. Gaylord Scott, spokesman for the Salt Lake County Unified Fire Authority, said it is likely the call went to Salt Lake because of the location of the cell tower that relayed the call.

Salt Lake dispatchers sent out two UFA fire crews and a heavy equipment rescue crew from the Fort Union area because they were unsure what kind of wall fell on the man and what kind of tools would be needed at the accident site.

Workers at the construction site were able to lift the wall, made of plywood and 2-by-4s, prior to the arrival of any emergency crews.

As a precaution, VECC dispatchers contacted the Utah County sheriff's dispatch center, which contacted the Lehi Fire Department.

The UFA fire crews drove through the ridge area near its top, looking for the accident site, Scott said.

But the caller did not provide clear directions to the dispatchers, Scott said. The caller said the incident was at Traverse Ridge, a different part of the mountain than Traverse Mountain subdivision, although the two are linked together by a road, Scott said.

"The call came into VECC that there was a wall collapse at the end of (a) road. And when it came in and the fact that the 911 operator got the call (in Salt Lake County), they sent crews to the top of the mountain. The accident happened down on the Lehi side," Scott said.

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