Another missed call to 911 in Perry County after merge with St. Francois County 911 Center

PERRY COUNTY, Mo., (KBSI) – A second missed call to 911 in Perry County has been reported. This comes after the merge with St. Francois County 911 Center.

Debbie Statler said it was Saturday, January 25, when her dad Arlin Hadler, began experiencing concerning symptoms. His speech was slurred, he was confused, and then he was unresponsive. His family thought he may be having a stroke — that’s when Statler’s brother called 911.

“It rang — it sounded like it was going through, made some noises and then hung up after 12 seconds without speaking to anyone,” Statler said. “Of course, he frantically called 911 again and same thing. Click click click. Nobody answered and after about 15 seconds it was gone again.”

Statler said they called 911, the sheriff’s department, the police department, and the hospital — six calls in total — before they finally got an ambulance on the way.

She said, given her father’s concerning symptoms a helicopter was dispatched at the same time as the ambulance. Statler followed the ambulance from her parents house in Crosstown to Zion Lutheran Church where the helicopter was waiting in the parking lot.

“I wanted to see my dad in that helicopter. So much time had passed, and it sounds kind of crazy, but I wanted to make sure that he was still with us when he got in that helicopter,” she said.

Sheriff Jason Klaus said this is the second reported incident of a call not going through to 911 after Perry County officially merged its dispatch services with St. Francois County 911 Center. He said he has been in contact with the family.

“We are working with them to establish the the specifics on exactly what happened, where they called the different numbers that they called, and why that call was not transferred the way that we believe that it should have,” he said. “We are working with St. Francois County, as well, with those dates and times to make sure that they can look at it on their end to figure out why this call was not connected.”

Klaus wants to reassure people that the system is working.

“We’ve had many, many successfully completed 911 calls,” he said. “Obviously, the ones that are missed are of much concern, as well, and we are taking all of those very seriously.”

Statler said they learned her father did not have a stroke, though his diagnosis was life-threatening. After receiving necessary treatment he has fully recovered.