The Edmonton Police Service is apologizing, saying there were multiple communication breakdowns that resulted in an assault victim not getting help in a reasonable amount of time recently.
“For Edmontonians, we vow to be better. To the victim, our sincere apology. We are not perfect and we will make improvements,” Supt. Darrin Balanik said.
The apology came after an incident in which a woman was lying in an alley, pleading for help for more than 90 minutes after a Good Samaritan called 911.
“We can classify this as a breakdown in communication. There were two or three or four,” Balanik said.
READ MORE: Good Samaritans frustrated after urgent 911 call in Edmonton goes unanswered for 90 minutes
Watch below: (From Aug. 1, 2019) A pair of Good Samaritans who found a badly beaten woman in Edmonton and then called 911 are raising concerns about how long it took emergency responders to arrive at the scene. Sarah Kraus reports.
The first person to call 911 was first aid instructor John Saunders. He said the young woman was covered in blood, fading in and out of consciousness, vomiting and unable to feel her legs. He would later learn the victim had allegedly been jumped by three people and beaten with a metal pipe or bar.
Saunders called 911 at 5:33 a.m. on Wednesday and said he spoke to EMS and police dispatchers.
“Both of them were on the phone at the same time. The EMS officer, I clearly heard her say, ‘We are going to need a police escort to ensure the scene is safe because this is the scene of an assault.’ The police operator said, ‘Yes I will dispatch a car,'” Saunders said.
Over the course of the next hour and a half, other Good Samaritans called 911 too. Gerry Semler said between them, six calls went to 911 but neither paramedics, nor police officers, came to the woman’s aid.
It turns out police thought paramedics had already treated the victim. Instead, they were waiting for clearance from the police to attend the scene — despite the callers saying the scene was safe.
“We should have a better direct link to the members on scene, the EMS members,” Balanik said. “We have also reached out to our Alberta Health Services partners and we want to improve communication between the two agencies.”
In a statement, AHS wrote that “it is imperative that we balance the need to respond to a patient in a timely manner with the need to ensure our staff are safe.”
When asked if there was any flexibility in AHS procedures to reassess the safety of a call, Global News did not receive a response.
Firefighters eventually responded to the scene to help the woman, just a few minutes after Semler physically drove to the fire hall to alert them to the problem.
The firefighters’ union told Global News that firefighters have more discretion when it comes to emergency calls. They will size up a situation, and if they feel it is safe, they have some latitude to make decisions about entering a scene.
Police said they are now reviewing their 911 policies and procedures.
“We are taking responsibility for our action or inaction, and we are looking at the breakdowns in communication and we are going to make improvements,” Balanik said.
“We cannot sit here and say that we did the best job we could in this situation.”
That’s what Saunders said he was hoping for by sharing his experience.
“If this does initiate some sort of change, then I’m glad,” he said.
“I’m still a little upset it had to come to a situation like this.”
Balanik personally called both Saunders and Semler to thank them for their efforts and to commit to making changes.
“I thought he was very sincere and honest,” Semler said. He will be meeting the superintendent at northeast division next week.
“It will have some effect and it should be an improvement, I hope,” Semler said. “Otherwise, it’s all for naught.”
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