WASHINGTON — The agency that handles 911 calls in D.C. says it is “carefully reviewing” its response to an emergency call Friday afternoon about a 5-month-old who stopped breathing.
The Office of Unified Communications (OUC) received a 911 call at 12:51 p.m. Friday about a 5-month-old baby who was not breathing in the 3000 block of Connecticut Avenue NW. The caller reported they were performing CPR on the baby but it was “not coming back.”
According to a statement from D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah, OUC dispatched the call two minutes later at 12:53 p.m. One call taker ensured CPR was being administered properly, while another directed a second person to go downstairs to meet first responders.
At that same time, a federal law enforcement officer in the area recognized the distraught caller on the street, confirmed with OUC dispatched that DC Fire & EMS (FEMS) was en route, and then went into the home to assist.
DC Police officers arrived on scene, following immediately by FEMS, at 12:58 p.m. One minute later, FEMS confirmed CPR was in progress.
An additional FEMS unit arrived at 1:09 p.m. and at 1:14 p.m. the 5-month-old was transported to a local hospital, where the child was pronounced dead.
“We continue to offer our deepest condolences to the family at the unimaginable loss of their baby," Appiah said in a statement to WUSA9.
WUSA9 also reached out to OUC, which confirmed it was investigating the timeline of the response to the call.
“The District extends our heartfelt condolences to the family who tragically lost their child,” OUC public information officer Anna Noakes said. “We are carefully reviewing the response to the initial call and will provide additional information as the review is completed."
D.C.’s 911 service has come under fire over the last year over criticism about delayed and faulty responses. In September, more than 100 current and former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners signed a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser expressing “grave concerns” about how the District handles 911 calls. In February, members of the DC Council demanded answers from OUC Director Heather McGaffin about issues with the agency – including its response to the flooding at District Dogs last August that killed 10 animals.
Approximately an hour and 10 minutes after the child was transported to the hospital, OUC posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the District's computer-aided dispatch system was experiencing "technical difficulties." The post said OUC was still able to process and receive 911 calls. There was no immediate indication the issue affected the response to the call about the 5-month-old.
On Monday evening, the DC Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) said a contractor applied a software update on Friday afternoon, just 11 minutes before the call for help was placed for the 5-month-old. The update limited the Office of Unified Communications (OUC), the Metropolitan Police Department, and the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department's access to the CAD system for hours.
"The software update was not done in compliance with OCTO protocol and resulted in a disruption that limited agencies' access to the CAD system," said the statement from OCTO. "The disruption was resolved for the OUC call floor at 2:28 p.m. and all remaining workstations were fully functional by 6:24 p.m."
The contractor is reportedly no longer employed by D.C. government.