911 puts restaurant customers on hold during choking incident

UPDATE

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday afternoon that it took medics a little more than 6 minutes to arrive on the scene after the first 911 call was made. 

PREVIOUS

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Customers called 911 after a woman began choking at Ruth’s Chris steakhouse on the city’s north side.

Instead of getting help immediately, they have alleged they got an automated message letting them know there was a wait to speak to dispatchers. 

Barry Francis said a Friday night at Ruth’s Chris seemed like the perfect way to start the weekend, but perfection turned to fright. 

“During dinner we heard a scream,” Francis said.

A woman was choking on her dinner. Francis saw another customer perform the Heimlich maneuver  several times. The woman went limp. Others joined in to help. 

“After about 10 or 12 Heimlich thrusts, they were able to get that out of her. But, at that point, she was already nonresponsive and she did not appear to have a pulse,” Francis said. 

Another customer then began performing CPR while others including Francis picked up their phones and called 911.

“A number of people starting dialing 911 but indicated that they actually raised their hands up with their phones saying they were on hold,” Francis said.

According to Barry, his wife waited for 40 seconds. She hung up when learning another customer did get through. But, the wait continued.

“Five minutes passed, 10 minutes passed, 12 minutes passed, and, as I called, my phone call was also redirected straight to an automated system,” Francis said. 

Medics were not on the scene for about 15 minutes, Barry said.

“At the end of the day, it boiled down to the access to the dispatchers. It’s really quite honestly inexcusable.There is no reason for this to happen,” Francis said.

Francis also said customers began praying for the woman. Her condition is not known at this time.

The Marion County 911 dispatch center did not respond to a request to find out how long it took for dispatchers to respond to the first call.