"Whether or not that woman would have lived is not the issue. The operator screwed up and in a job like that there isn't room for that kind of error."
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Then we better start paying 911 operators a wage that states, you get paid enough to NEVER make a mistake. If you do make a mistake, you are making enough to afford being upemployed.
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We better pay them more than the GM CEO's.
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I am not saying people shouldn't be expected to do a good job regardless of salary, they should. However, if we are going to say you can't screw up without public ridicule and being fired the salary better make that stress worthwhile.

What if any qualifications/training are involved in hiring a 911 operator? I've heard alot of horror stories involving the operators and their lack of response. Whether or not that woman would have lived is not the issue. The operator screwed up and in a job like that there isn't room for that kind of error.

Another- 911 is by no means a gaurantee to save someones life..Especially in larger cities.If I remember correctly, this call was placed from a cell phone (?) which also can complicate things. I also agree that a call back should have taken place. I feel though, that unfortunately it may not have been enough to help this poor young lady.

If a 911 call is made and there is no response on the end of the caller an officer should be dispatched, period.

There are countless situations where someone would be able to dial 911 but not be free to speak.

Biggirl has a point. Why have an emergency service if they only respond to emergencies where someone is able to speak? The situations where someone is unable to speak should be assumed to be much more severe.

Come on, taxpayers, what kind of service do you want for your money?! When I was in Junior high, the fire department responded to every alarm, even when it was some kid throwing their shoe at the fire alarm switch.

Someone didn't do their job and someone lost a life because of it. My job isn't that important. Nobody dies if I screw up. Anybody in a position where that is possible is liable. The person, not just the company/county. You don't assume anything when you are a 911 operator. You send the police.

What, if anything, are most of the posters here thinking?!

I agree that what happened was horrible and tragic.. However in reality, I think this poor girls fate had already been met, even if help had finally been reached..

"This is the price of what we think of as living in a "free" society!"
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Yes, and if I am killed tonight I still say, at least I am free.
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I would much rather have the threat of some random person killing me than live is some police state.
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For me this is tied directly to the torture debate. I would rather die knowing the country I live in follows the laws and treats even the worst person as a human than live to 100 in a country that only follows the law when convienent and will do whatever it takes to "protect" me.
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I would rather die than live in hell. Yes, I exaggerate a bit but that "protective" hell has been created a few times and I would rather the US avoid that.
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Tragic situation but we should not over react.
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This might not read the way I intend so please think about my point before just responding to a sentence or two.

Yes, government should always be responsible for keeping everyone safe from themselves and everyone else -- if not, sue the taxpayers.

Sad that this incident happened, doubt that cops would have prevented it, let's get the killer, instead of slaying everyone who ever touched this call.

Ultimately, YOU are responsible for your own safety -- cops mostly pick up the pieces. Sorry -- that's just the way the real world works! If we could only get that Pre-Crimes unit up and running ...

In reality, we probably could guess, based on history and actions, who has a good chance of hurting someone in the future (pick any Jarret brother, for instance -- I'll put big money on that bet!), but stopping that potentiality would violate all those quaint little constitutional rights everyone always seems to claim were violated. This is the price of what we think of as living in a "free" society!

Don't stop here. Appeal. Failure to act on deficiencies identified four years ago. Serious stuff.

One thing I can say for sure after reading this article is that it's Associated Press author has no understanding of what s/he is writing about.

First, it's not the Dane County sheriff's dispatcher. Secondly, a deputy would not be dispatched to a City of Madison call.

The Dane County 911 Center is not a function of the sheriff's department. The sheriff's department does not have dispatchers in Dane County. And city of Madison police officers respond to calls within the City. There are exceptions for "mutual aid," but the agency with responsibility for the call is Madison Police Department.

People need to read the final paragraph carefully. There has been no ruling on whether the county or the dispatcher were negligent on the day of Zimmerman's death. This is only about whether the county's governmental process of improving (or not) the 911 center was subject to lawsuit, which according to longstanding principles, it would not be.

whythink...didn't you know that is never the fault of the person who did the act; it is always the fault of the people/company/agency that the lawyers can ATTEMPT to squeeze the most money from.

biggirl: I don't think there is enough information in the above article for anyone to make a proper judgement but I am curious about one of your statements. You wrote,"For that matter, why have police if they can't be relied on to be dispatched to an emergency situation." That makes no sense at all. If they weren't dispatched, how would they know that a situation existed?

biggirl
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Come on, a person screwed up. I am guessing more times than not police are dispatched and lives are saved.
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A mistake happened and a life was lost and that is tragic, sad and unacceptable but mistakes do happen.
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I blame the murderer more than anyone else.

Given this ruling, the obvious question is why do we have 911 call centers if they can't be relied on to dispatch police. For that matter, why have police if they can't be relied on to be dispatched to an emergency situation. We pay an additional tax on cell-phones for this service, and yet when a dying woman called for help, they couldn't even be bothered to check on the situation.