The family of Kyle Plush, who died last year after getting trapped between the seats in his minivan, has filed a lawsuit against the city of Cincinnati, claiming there’s a serious problem with their 911 program.
On April 10, 2018, the 16-year-old boy became trapped between the eats in his Honda Odyssey as he drove to school. He called 911 twice on his cellphone. Magee, the person who took his call, had difficulty hearing him. She misclassified the call as “unknown trouble” when putting it into the system, even though she knew that he was trapped.
“I probably don’t have much time left, so tell my mom that I love her if I die,” Kyle said in the second call.
Kyle’s father found him in the minivan six hours later. He was unresponsive and pronounced dead a little while later.
Kyle’s parents said that they filed the lawsuit to figure out what went wrong that day and make sure what happened doesn’t happen to another family.
“We can’t change (what happened to Kyle), but we can change the future and make sure it never happens again,” Ron Plush said. “We want to ensure that when you do call 911 that help is going to come and it’s going to come immediately and it’s going to be the right help because seconds and minutes matter.”
Cincinnati City Manager Patrick Duhaney offered condolences to the Plush family.
“Every day since April 10, 2018, the City has worked to evaluate, review and enhance the ways in which we respond to emergencies,” he said. “As a result, the Emergency Communications Center exceeds state and national standards for 9-1-1 call answering. We have developed and implemented these changes in a transparent and collaborative manner.”
For information about personal injury claims, visit Cohen & Cohen, P.C.
