By Bill Carey
SA国际传媒
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. 鈥� Ring camera footage shows a Horry County resident struggling to reach 911 as his wife was having a seizure.
Douglas Lhamon revealed it took three attempts to contact a dispatcher after his wife, Marissa, suddenly collapsed and began seizing on their front porch earlier this month, reported.
He also noted a 10-minute delay in emergency response.
鈥淚 jumped up out of the chair and made sure she wasn鈥檛 going to hurt herself, and she was foaming at the mouth,鈥� Douglas said. 鈥淪he was nonfunctional, and her face just turned white. Her lips were white and she stopped breathing.鈥�
Douglas said the first call sounded like a fax machine.
鈥淭hen the second time I call I get 鈥榯he next operator will be with you.鈥� That鈥檚 unacceptable,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, I hung up and called back a third time and someone finally answered, and in the background, you can hear some guy say, 鈥榃e have sent somebody out there three times to this address.鈥欌��
WBTW reports that Horry County police confirmed using an automated system when dispatchers are unavailable. HCPD assured that they are aware of incoming calls and respond to them as they are received.
鈥淚 understand they might be understaffed, but there are enough people out there that have medical advice and could get someone else to set phones,鈥� Douglas said. 鈥淚f you go to lunch, get someone else to get your phone. 911 is a lifesaver鈥� but if you鈥檙e not there, whose life are you saving?鈥�
Horry County police stated that response times vary due to factors such as crew availability; if a team is busy, the nearest available unit is dispatched.