Fort Lauderdale

911 Operator Missed Emergency Call, Was Ordering Pizza

A 911 operator in Broward County is accused of missing a call involving a man who fainted while she ordered her lunch.

Francis Francois, a Broward emergency operator, was on the job in September placing her lunch order and apparently for co-workers too.

Meanwhile, at the Clearsight Opticians in Fort Lauderdale, a man had fainted and the workers inside called 911 but got not response and no call back.

"He started to convulse, had a seizure, fell out of the exam chair," Clearsight's Jared Goodman said. "I thought there would be more than one person answering the phone. I can't believe there is just the one lady."

NBC 6 tried to contact Francois Friday but was unable to reach her.

In the recording of her call to the pizza place, Francois is heard placing multiple orders and checking the prices of the selections at some points.

"During this time frame, 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," a Broward Sheriff's Office report of the incident read.

The food order finally ended more than eight minutes later. The man who fainted eventually recovered and is alright.

The investigator's reports show that the operator acknowledged that she should have terminated the lunch order and taken the emergency call when she heard the call coming in. She was officially given a letter of reprimand.

Fort Lauderdale is now reviewing if it should remain in the regional 911 system.

"And if that means we need to look at going back to our own police and fire 911 dispatch system we are going to that analysis," Fort Lauderdale City Manager Lee Feldman said.

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