When Javier Ortiz collapsed in his Echo Park backyard, his daughter called 911. It took more than 2-1/2 minutes to dispatch the firefighters, which is almost three times the national standard for response time. The firefighters were able to reach the house in 3-1/2 minutes, but Ortiz would die of cardiac arrest several hours later.
According to the Los Angeles Times, this lag in response time is not unusual. Though time is of the essence, Dispatchers are losing seconds in hundreds of thousands of medical-aid calls each year. Complete story at latimes.com.
