When an 88-year-old man jumped off the Rt. 27 Southport swing bridge spanning Boothbay Harbor and Southport Island on the morning of Jan. 15, several minutes passed between an initial 911 cell phone call and the time First Responders arrived.
The delay prompted an internal investigation and a multi agency report that Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Tim Pellerin submitted to the Lincoln County Commissioners Tuesday morning.
The report showed a timeline of events that transpired after a witness made the emergency call and explained the subsequent delay in the communications system.
In his address to Lincoln County Commissioners, Pellerin said his agency received numerous complaints from the public and First Responders regarding the delay.
The report reflected cooperation between Lincoln County EMA, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), Knox County Communications and Sagadahoc County Communications. Detective Robert McFetridge of LCSO’s Criminal Investigation Division in the LCSO contacted Dept. of Public Safety (DPS) Communications Director Clifford Wells in the process of investigating the matter.
In an email response to McFetridge, Wells stated, “I will look into this on our end and get back to you just as soon as I have heard the audio.”
Department of Public Safety spokesperson Steve McCausland could not comment further on the situation beyond the fact that the director is looking into it.
In his report to county commissioners, Pellerin said there was a seven-minute delay in the system. The delay translated to a response time totaling 11 minutes instead of the three minutes and 15 seconds it could have been, Pellerin said. Lincoln County First Responders arrived at the scene three minutes and 15 seconds after being dispatched.
The suicide victim was not named in the report, but he is identified as a former bridge tender and Southport resident. According to McFetridge, the victim was transported to St. Andrews Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries shortly after 11 a.m.
A local business owner, who was driving across the bridge, saw the man jump at around 9 a.m. and used his cell phone to call 911. According to the report, the call was made around 9:04 a.m. Lincoln County Communications dispatched Boothbay Region Ambulance and Southport Fire Dept. at 9:12 a.m.
“The local emergency services in the Boothbay Region have a relatively fast response time,” McFetridge said in a letter to Wells. “The amount of time that was lost by the call being incorrectly directed to two different communications centers could have been a factor on the chance of the subject’s survival.”
The Lincoln County EMA and Sheriff’s Office combined report indicates sources of miscommunication in the system.
“It is our intent not to point the finger or blame at any one individual or agency, but instead to attempt to determine how a potential seven minute delay occurred in a life saving emergency call,” Pellerin said.
Communication transcripts of the 911 call made to the Dept. of Public Safety’s Central Maine Regional Communications Center in Augusta show some confusion as to the exact location of the Southport Bridge.
The 911 cell phone call was broadcast from a tower in Georgetown and the Public Safety emergency dispatcher contacted the Knox County Communications Center in Rockland. The dispatcher with Knox County advised the state dispatcher to contact Sagadahoc County Communications.
Neither the Public Safety nor Sagadahoc County dispatcher knew where a Southport Bridge in Georgetown was located. The DPS dispatcher said the caller was “using a different name on it (the bridge)” and the Sagadahoc County dispatcher said they would contact the original caller to determine its location, suspecting, but not sure that the reported bridge is actually in Southport.
McFetridge heard the radio broadcast and contacted Lincoln County Communications, who said they had not received the emergency call. During their conversation, the original caller drove to the Boothbay Harbor Police Dept. and told them what happened.
“It is our hope that in the future, agencies will work together to determine what occurred to have caused this delay, and how to prevent it from reoccurring in the future,” Pellerin said.
Lincoln County Commissioners Sheridan Bond and Lynn Orne both said Lincoln County Communications and first responders performed well. Orne said commissioners would follow the situation closely and look into the matter as more information develops.
“Certainly if this had been an accidental fall,” she said. “Seven minutes would have made a difference.”
