In many localities, 911 calls are monitored and the recordings are saved. If that statement was made, and it was my loved one that was involved, I would be voicing my concern with the authorities who govern the 911 service.

All a bunch of speculation.
If OP or somebody that was there with first hand knowledge, would contact the Villages Fire Chief (as a starting point) to get some factual information as to why the call took 30 minutes. He should be able to provide contacts for the ambulance service.
The point being is this an isolated incident or a pattern.

Half hour of CPR is grueling. Do the rec centers have an AED? Surprised the 911 did not put first responders in effect. A ambulance is the second to arrive.

When we first bought our house in Pennacamp there were only three people living in our neighborhood as it was still being built. The only other person there had fallen and fractured his hip. I had OnStar press the button and ask for a first responder. Told OnStar I was in the middle of a brand-new subdivision my fear was no one would find us. Before I finished my conversation I could hear the sirens, first responders were there in less than two minutes. I am hoping as we have grown so large that this is not a norm for us not to have a fast response. So glad there are people who could continue to do CPR for that length of time. My question is were they still doing CPR when help arrived? Even the fire station 10 minutes away could have taken over CPR.

This is definitely where "facts and data" may help the discussion. 911 services (public or private) maintain records of calls. I think the OP'r should contact the appropriate entity for assistance and time-stamps.

As a first-responder, it feels like forever before support arrives.

I had to be transported by ambulance from our home. We live in Amelia and it seemed to take awhile for them to come. We asked and I think they said they came from down by Brownwood. They said it depends on what's happening with the others, who may be responding to other calls. In 2015...we had to go to the ER and there were 7 or 8 ambulances stacked up in their driveway. I don't think it's an intentional thing that happens but it's scarey nonetheless when it's happening to you or a loved one. All the more reason to know CPR....and a good thing this person had folks who knew it.

I am still confused the ambulance is not your first responder. It is your transporter to whatever facility you need to go to. I understand the ambulance took a half an hour but how long did it take for first responders to arrive. That's the person I want to see take over from when I'm doing CPR.

I will relate my experience of an accident earlier this year at a local Rec Center and the response we got. Very Similar to what just happened.

If this accident occured on the pickelball courts most likely the calls to 911 were via CELL phone. Based on My experience, here is what happens...especially on the west side of The Villages. A 911 call is made and being Rohan it most likely was connected to a Lake County Emergency Center. The first question 911 operator asks is what county are you in ..OK Sumter. The call is then transferred to Sumter county and they ask your location...You tell them Rohan Rec Center in The Villages...but they want an ADDRESS....you dont have it....its Rohan Rec Center. The 911 center then puts a call out to find an available ambulance team...it may or may not be one close to the Rohan Center.....AND the ambulance may or may not be staffed by EMS personnel familiar with the Villages for it could have been staffed by any EMS team (from 30 miles away) that was filling in The Villages area but they would not necessarily be familar with our landmarks. The other thing that happens is when the CELL call was transferred to Sumter County EMS, the location data was not provided since their was no PHYSICAL ADDRESS provided...only Rohan Rec Center. What happens then is that the EMS ambulance team tries to coordinate the call from cell towers......THIS IS REALLY HOW IT WORKS...In our case, when we needed an ambulance the ambulance went to the caroline rec center...there is no caroline rec center (it was the ____ rec center in Caroline. The ambulance then went to Canal street Rec Ctr ..not only the ambulance but fire truck and police but OPPS Wrong one....finally 18 minutes later they finally showed up where they should have come initially with no sirens, no sense of urgency....just as you described. Money this is what happened in this case.

I spoke with Captain Ed Cain (located on Morse Blvd just south of 466A) who is the coordinator for the villages with the Sumter ambulance service. I met with Cpt Cain and he was very gracious..took my information and got back to me relating the facts as they were reported internally.....and believe me many of them were not accurate. BUt he did emphasize the problems with 911 CELL calls the system is far from perfect especially when not calling from your residence or from a known address .

I would contact Captain Cain, relate this story, and he will do a personal check of the facts.

This Problem really needs to be addressed ...especially critical if something happens say on a golf course!

:agree:

Edmund A. Cain, Fire Chief
edmund.cain@districtgov.org

Jeff Day, Deputy Fire Chief
jeff.day@districtgov.org

Capt. Dan Hickey, Sr., EMT
Fire Marshal
dan.hickey@districtgov.org

Capt. Roberto Gonzalez, EMT-P
Captain – Training
Roberto.Gonzalez@districtgov.org

Capt. Misty Morningstar-Twiss, EMT-P
Captain - Administrative Operations
Misty.Morningstar@districtgov.org

I was at MVP Brownwood this morning and the yoga teacher related that they had to do CPR on a man yesterday for 20 minutes before first responders arrived. She said that they were involved in another call. Everything worked out and the man is alive but 20 minutes had to seem like an eternity to the MVP employees.

If there were a statutory response criteria, they would have to modify it for The Villages where many operators of automobiles show no proclivity to clear out of the way of emergency vehicles.

I can't recall where I read it now (maybe someone can help?), but I distinctly remember instructions that if you're on a golf course and have an emergency...you were to call 911 and give them the name of the course and the hole # you were on.

If that's the case where the local first responders have hole #'s of specific courses already identified/mapped out, it's hard to imagine why it took so much time to get to a rec center. :ohdear:



ON EDIT: Here's where I found it. It's in the 'Good Golf Guide (page 12 of the PDF).

http://www.golfthevillages.com/golf-...dGolfGuide.pdf

I agree Call Captain Cain as I did for the incident I was involved in. He will get the facts as reported and get back to you.

I can tell you based on my first hand experience, if you make a cell call to 911 and you are at a location where you do not have a physical address (say a Rec Center, a parking lot, resturant, or golf course), the first responders response is very likely to be delayed. Many many variabes enter the picture when one uses a cell phone and many of the safeguards we expect to be there such as location identifier, local landmarks, rec center names etc, do not always transfer to the ultimate dispatcher or the responding EMT unit.

Captain Cain will be happy to meet with your local community groups to explain the limitations of using a Cell phone when calling for Emergency assistance. He will also explain how they try and overcome these limitations but they are not always successful

Do you know why after calling 911 they want you to call the country club....its because the country club will then make a landline call to 911 as backup to your cell call....and to provide a clearer direction as to exactly where the incident has occured and how the EMTs can get there.

Looking for EMS response times, I searched the districtgov.org web site. In the public safety department’s information under annual reports, the most current information they have is for 2013. In 2013, the Villages safety department seemed to imply that they handled EMS runs. “Emergency medical services is an integral part of the Department’s operation both internally and externally. Nearly 63% of our emergency calls are for medical services – that’s almost 26 calls per day” . I could not find any reference to response times.

So, they are there first to await a private company to transport the patient?

:read: The link is in post #14 from Monday.