Miami Beach Dispatcher May Be Fired After Delayed Rescue

It took rescuers 31 minutes to get to a man's home.

An emergency dispatcher may be out of a job after a man died when it took Miami Beach rescuers 31 minutes to get to his home, authorities said Wednesday.

Dispatcher Damian Janee received a discipline notice Tuesday from the City of Miami Beach that states the city's intent to remove him from his position.

The final decision to fire Janee, who is currently on leave with pay, will be made after a hearing on May 7 at the City of Miami Beach Police Department, the notice says.

The investigation began March 5, when 65-year-old Michael Lubin died in his Venetian Islands home, located two miles from the nearest fire station.

According to police reports, Lubin's wife called 911 at 9:05 a.m. A rescue crew was dispatched 12 minutes later, at 9:17 a.m, but they didn't arrive at Lubin's home until 9:36 a.m. Officials pronounced Lubin dead three minutes later.

"After the fact, 14 minutes later after he finally did dispatch the call, he entered into the record that rescue had been enroute since 9:13, which was not accurate," Miami Beach Police Chief Ray Martinez said.

Normal response time is between four and six minutes, said Miami Beach Fire Rescue Captain Adonis Garcia in a previous statement.

The termination notice mentions previous incidents where Janee was reprimanded by the department, including sending police units to the wrong location and leaving a 911 call line open for 37 minutes while surfing the web.

"The recommendation has been to terminate him," Martinez said.
 

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