Broward County, Fla., officials have sent emergency operator Francis Francois a letter of reprimand after she “failed to respond to the incoming 911 calls despite audible tones and visual alerts” because she was ordering pizza.
According to NBC Miami, an incident occurred in September while Francois was ordering a pizza lunch for herself and co-workers.
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As that pizza order was being made, a man fell out of an exam chart Clearsight Opticians in Fort Lauderdale and had a seizure. 911 was called, but there was no answer.
“He started to convulse, had a seizure, fell out of the exam chair,” Clearsight’s Jared Goodman told NBC Miami. “I thought there would be more than one person answering the phone. I can’t believe there is just the one lady.”
Audio portions of Francois’ pizza order have been made public.
Luckily, the man who fainted and had a seizure is okay, but the result of the missed phone call could have been so much worse if he were in more serious condition.
“Ms. Francois failed to respond to the incoming 911 calls despite audible tones an visual alerts resulting in the 911 calls going unanswered and abandoned,” the Broward Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Officials are planning to reevaluate 911 dispatch systems so that something like this doesn’t happen again.