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Saturday, May 17, 2008

Parents of N.M. Girl Killed in Crash Sue County Dispatchers


Associated Press
      
    AZTEC — A wrongful death lawsuit accuses San Juan County dispatchers of failing to provide GPS information to emergency responders that the plaintiffs say could have saved their daughter's life.
    Jessica Eldred, 20, died Tuesday after her car crashed into a tree off U.S. 64 near Blanco. She had called 911 seven times from her cell phone, explaining her location, but wasn't found until nearly four hours after the crash first was reported, the lawsuit said.
    Dispatchers told medics and sheriff's deputies that no GPS location was available, although the 911 computer system logged that information from the cell phone calls, the lawsuit states.
    "Had the defendants ... admitted to Jessica that they were completely unable to locate her, based on their tragic ignorance of their own GPS tracking equipment and failure to communicate to emergency units that the crashed vehicle was close to the bridge, Jessica would have undoubtedly turned to other efforts to save her own life,'' the civil complaint says.
    The lawsuit names San Juan County commissioners, the San Juan County Communications Authority, dispatch director Darryl Branson and all emergency dispatchers and supervisors working when the incident occurred.
    Branson declined comment.
    The lawsuit, filed this week on behalf of Eldred's parents Terry and Cindi, seeks up to $750,000 in damages.

Copyright ©2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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