A Michigan mother was forced to break into her own car in order to save her baby after a 911 dispatcher refused to send help.
Lacey Guyton and her 2-month-old daughter Raina were getting ready to head back home from visiting Guyton’s grandmother when she accidentally locked Raina inside the vehicle alongside a diaper bag that was holding the car keys.
Once she realized the minivan’s doors would not open, Guyton’s “heart sank,” according to a Facebook status she wrote Tuesday. Guyton had her grandmother dial 911 while she grabbed a chunk of asphalt and tried to smash a window — but the glass wouldn’t break.
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As her baby cried inside the van, the 911 dispatcher told Guyton’s grandmother that she could not help because the police department does not send anyone to break windows or unlock vehicles.
The dispatcher offered to give her the number to a towing company, but, as Guyton said in her post, she “didn’t have time to wait for a tow company as my baby is screaming and getting hotter in the car.”
After calling back and telling the dispatcher her 2-month-old was locked in the hot car, Guyton said the dispatcher would still not send anyone — only transfer her to a towing company. With no other option, the mother decided to call the towing company.
That’s when Guyton noticed that Raina had stopped crying and was starting to close her eyes. She wrote:
“At this point I didn’t know if she was going to sleep or if my baby was dying. Realizing no emergency help is coming to save my baby was the worst feeling in the world.”
Guyton then ran to the back of the minivan and hit the back windshield hard. The glass shattered on the second try, allowing her to get inside and rescue her daughter — twelve minutes before the towing company arrived.
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Waterford Police Chief Scott Underwood called Guyton to apologize and said in a statement to ABC News that the dispatcher completely mishandled the situation:
“While it is true we do not normally respond when people lock their keys in their vehicle and we do offer to contact a wrecker service for them, this is a completely different situation. We should have responded in this case and we should respond in any similar case when there is a concern for the health, safety or welfare of any person, especially a young child. We acknowledge our mistake and are doing everything we can to make sure we do not repeat it. We will learn from this and correct the problem.”
Guyton was told that the dispatcher was going to receive more training, but she argued in her post that “no one should need any training at all to know that you need to send help in that situation.” Fair.
[Image via WXYZ.]
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