Family receives $4 million settlement after 911 call delay leads to woman’s death

By Andy Alcock

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    KANSAS CITY (KMBC) — A Prairie Village family has settled one of the largest 911 response delay wrongful death lawsuits in U.S. history against Kansas City, Missouri, for $4,125,000.

Cathryn McClelland, a 40-year-old nurse, was getting her two young children ready for day camp on the morning of July 18, 2019, when she collapsed from cardiac arrest.

Her 8-year-old son picked up Cathryn’s cell phone and called 911.

The call connected with a tower on the other side of the state line in Kansas City, so it was sent to KCPD’s 911 Call Center.

“I’m only a child with my little sister, and my mom is lying on the ground, and my dad’s out of town,” the boy told the call taker.

“He did everything right. He acted heroically. He was clear and concise. He gave all the correct information to the call taker,” said Frank McClelland, the boy’s father.

The 911 recording indicates the boy told the call taker he lived in Prairie Village on Belinder Avenue less than a minute into the call.

A few seconds later, he told the call taker the house number was 7347.

“And from that point forward, they should have had the call transferred to Johnson County Emergency Communications, but instead, they transferred it to the Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department, which doesn’t have jurisdiction here and couldn’t send the appropriate emergency responders,” McClelland said.

Experts testifying in depositions said failing to transfer the call to Johnson County was a violation of policy and training.

The 911 recording indicates KCPD’s tracking system showed the call coming from a different but nearby Prairie Village address.

The Kansas City Fire Department call taker asked the boy to find mail that might have the address on it.

He was unable to find any mail.

The call taker then was able to get Frank McClelland’s phone number from his son, who confirmed the address about six minutes after his son placed the 911 call.

“7347 Belinder Avenue, Prairie Village, Kansas,” Frank told the call taker.

“Can you spell the name of the street?” the call taker asked.

“B-E-L-I-N-D-E-R.”

“What’s wrong?” Frank asked.

“I don’t know. He said his mom fell on the ground and is laying there; she is not awake, so we’ve got him on the line with EMS. Just needed to verify the address,” the call taker responded.

“Oh, Jesus,” Frank said.

Despite that verification, 911 recordings indicate it was about another five minutes before a supervisor in the Kansas City Fire Department’s 911 dispatch center placed a call to Johnson County Med-Act to make sure an ambulance was on the way to the home.

“Checking on the 7347 Belinder to make sure you guys have that address,” the supervisor said on the call to Johnson County Med-Act eleven minutes and four seconds after the boy’s 911 call was answered.

“I don’t have any calls there,” the Johnson County call taker responded.

After an explanation, thirteen minutes and fourteen seconds after the boy’s 911 call was answered, the Johnson County Med-Act call taker said, “OK, we are on the way.”

Nearly twenty minutes after the boy was connected with KCPD 911, paramedics arrived at the home.

They were able to get Cathryn’s heart beating again.

However, because her brain was deprived of oxygen for so long, a few days later, Cathryn’s family decided to end life support for her.

Depositions in the case indicated Cathryn likely would have survived if the call had been handled correctly.

“That’s the expert opinion that we’ve received from neurologists and cardiologists,” Frank said.

“It takes a client like Frank McClelland and his kids who are brave enough to take on government and stay with it for as long as necessary to prove that we have a problem in this city. And if nothing else, from Cathryn’s death, we can help save other people’s lives,” said Brian McCallister, the McClelland family’s attorney.

As part of the case settlement, KCPD has agreed to a quality control measure called “Cathryn’s Code.”

That plan requires KCPD to randomly check fifty 911 calls each month to determine if they’re handled properly.

Cathryn’s son was eight and her daughter three at the time of her death.

“They’re fantastic kids. They’re very resilient. They’re, I would say, brilliant children, but, you know, they don’t have their mom as a result of this catastrophe. And I don’t know how they get a fair shot in life having done everything right and this is still the result,” Frank said.

For the last few years, KMBC has been documenting ongoing problems with delays answering 911 calls at KCPD’s Communications Center.

Newly released numbers show the problem is getting worse.

After the Kansas City Council approved a resolution last week, City Manager Brian Platt has been tasked with coming up with a plan to merge the police and fire departments’ 911 call centers to address the issue.

Details and implementation of the plan are pending.

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