A woman from Arkansas drowns after asking for help from a 9-1-1 dispatcher

The Fort Smith Police Service has released its call to 9-1-1 and we want to warn you that some people may have trouble listening.

Debbie Stevens: "Help me please, I do not want to die."

Dispatcher: "You will not die, wait a minute."

Debbie Stevens: "Well, I need it, uh, I'm scared, I'm sorry."

Dispatcher: "I understand you're scared, but I can not do anything sitting on a chair, so you'll have to wait and I'll send you somebody agree?"

While Debbie Stevens was begging for help, she was on the phone with 9-1-1 for about 24 minutes. She tells the regulator that the water is filling her car.

Dispatcher: "You're not going to die. I do not know why you panic, that's fine. I know that the water level is high. "

Stevens: "I'm scared. I am sorry."

Dispatcher: "I understand that, but you panic, you're just losing your oxygen there, so calm down."

Stevens: "When will they be here?"

Dispatcher: "As soon as they arrive there."

Police and firefighters arrived about 12 minutes after the initial call, but it took more than an hour to rescue teams to reach Stevens. The camera video of the police corps shows how much the area was flooded.

Stevens: "I'm afraid I've never had anything like this before."

Dispatcher: "This will teach you next time, do not drive in the water."

Stevens: "I could not see it, ma'am. I'm sorry or I would not have done it. "

Dispatcher: "I do not see how you did not see it, you had to go over then."

Acting Police Chief Danny Baker said, "I fully understand the disgust and concern we all have. I understand that hearing someone freak out that Mrs. Stephens was in the last moments of her life. We all hope that we will get a response a little better than the one that was given to him. I do not want us to interact with anyone this way, whether it's a life or death situation or not. "

The Acting Police Chief stated that the dispatcher had given two weeks' notice and that the call had been received during her last shift. He said he did not know why the Stevens 911 call was not a top priority. "I do not think the dispatcher understands or understands the seriousness of the situation," Baker said.

The acting chief said he was investigating whether police policies were being followed and how they could be improved. He said the dispatcher would not have been fired. "I can not … absolutely no criminal, we have examined this and she has not done anything criminal, I will not even go so far as to say that she has violated the policy." "

Stevens, 47, was already dead when the first responders finally reached her vehicle.

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