The Fire Department of New York is investigating why it took 21 minutes for an ambulance to get to a fire that broke out in a home in Far Rockaway, Queens last Sunday. The calls arrived in the 911 system at 11:51 am and at 11:56 am the firefighters arrived at the location of the blaze. The firefighters pulled two 4 year old children, Jai’Launi Tinglin and Ayina Tinglin (picture), from the fire and tried to resuscitate them but they were unsuccessful. They were asking: Where is EMS? Where is EMS?
According to the NY Daily News, the ambulance was only dispatched to the fire at 12:05 am, 14 minutes after the 911 call and arrived at the scene at 12:12 am, 21 minutes after the first call to 911.
It is not the first time that glitches happen with New York 911. In June last year, Ariel Russo was struck and killed by a reckless driver on the Upper West Side and glitches with 911 led to a 4 minute delay in the arrival of the ambulance. The Russo family is suing the city for negligence.