← True Crime with Kendall Rae
True Crime with Kendall Rae
He Could Have Been Saved: 911 Dispatch Failures Cost Kyle Plush His Life
00:51:23
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- [00:01]
Podcast Host (Health Discovered)
This week on a special episode of WebMD's Health Discovered podcast, we're taking a closer look at a common form of lung cancer that accounts for 85% of all cases.
- [00:12]
Janet Freeman Daly
When I first heard the words you have lung cancer, I was in shock.
- [00:18]
Podcast Host (Health Discovered)
It's a diagnosis that changes everything. So what does it really mean to advocate for yourself when you're living with non small cell lung cancer? Listen to Health discovered on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:34]
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- [01:20]
Kendall Rae
Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much for joining me as always, and if you're new to the show, then welcome. I'm happy to have you. Now, this episode is prerecorded. I am recording it very far in advance because if you are seeing this, if you didn't already see a prerecorded episode, this is recorded for going up during my maternity leave, which means I either am about to have a baby or just had a baby. And I'm actually not even pregnant when I'm recording this. So it feels really weird to say this and I don't know when you'll be seeing this, but I'm just trying to get a jump start, which I have already explained in other previous uploads, but if you didn't see that, now you know. And if you want to know how I'm doing or where I'm at in that process, you can follow me on Instagram. I normally update, you know, some personal details here and there on there. But anyway, today I'm going to be talking about a case that, well, really a story, I guess you could say, about an amazing young man named Kyle Plush. So I first heard about Kyle's story years ago and ever since I've heard about it, it has just stayed with me, it's always been on my mind and made me learn a lot more about the dispatch system and understand how important it actually is and how there can be major failures. Which is what's so frustrating about this case, is that Kyle's death was completely preventable. He did every single thing right and this never should have happened. And that just goes to his amazing character, how smart he was. I wanted to finally talk about it after all of this time because I think it's a story that more people should hear, should be aware of for their own potential safety in the future, but also because I think it's something that isn't often talked about. We don't often talk about dispatch in the cases that I cover. I mean, there's definitely some examples of really great dispatchers and also some really terrible dispatchers. And I think this is a story that anyone going into dispatch, potentially, or EMS in general, as well as people who are already training, I. I personally think this story should be told to anyone who is in training for 911 dispatch because it is such an important, crucial position that I think is overlooked by many of us in society and something that we don't really talk about. And like I said, there are so many great dispatchers out there. And of course, in any field, there are going to be people who aren't so great at it, who have made major mistakes that have cost people their lives. This case really got me interested in the world of dispatch years ago, and I've always wanted to do some more coverage on cases like this in general, but I'm really hoping to potentially, in the next couple of uploads, do an episode that focuses on amazing dispatch work as well, because it is so vital. And I want to start out this episode just by saying to anyone who isn't dispatched that you are so appreciated, especially those who take their job really seriously. It is such a high stress position. And, you know, talking about one instance of a failure of the system doesn't reflect on the entire community of dispatchers across the country and the world. And this case also highlights the failures of the police who were dispatched to the scene as well. But really, Kyle Plush was an amazing, amazing young man, and more people just need to know about him and his story and also, like I said, the work that his family has been doing to not only raise awareness about Kyle's case, but also to help others and prevent things from happening like this in the future. So with all that being said, let's go ahead and jump into Kyle's story. So, Kyle Plush was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 30, 2001, to his parents, Ron and Jill. And at just four months old, he went through something incredibly traumatic during a routine spinal tap. He ended up suffering from a spinal cord injury after a hematoma developed. And because of that, Kyle had to be rushed into emergency surgery. So, obviously, this wasn't just a traumatic experience for him. But his entire family and his parents were even warned that he may not survive and that if he did, there was a chance that he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life. Thankfully, though, that ended up not being the case. He did end up having to be in a full body cast under a year old, which is terrible, but obviously it's a lot better than the alternative that doctors were suggesting could be the outcome. However, it meant that Kyle had to be in physical and occupational therapy and had to visit the doctor constantly and had to wear a back brace to prevent his spine from curving. But none of that stopped Kyle from living an amazing life. Everyone who knew him said that he was the happiest kid who always lived his life to the fullest. And when he was three years old, he got to share that with his new baby sister, Allie. And from everything I've read, he. These two were incredibly close. And one thing that you should know is that even though Kyle had made almost a full recovery from that spinal cord injury, he did, of course, have some lingering issues, specifically with his right hand, and he never gained full control of it, which by no means prevented him from living a very great, fulfilling life. Honestly. If anything, it taught him how to be more resourceful from a really young age and sort of shaped him into the person that he was. And it taught him to be, you know, resilient and how life should never be taken for granted. His favorite quote was carpe diem, which I'm sure many of you know means seize the day, which is exactly what he did. He lived his life to the fullest. Small business life means hustling and figuring it all out a lot of times on your own, but you don't have to spend your evenings guessing at tax forms or tracking your onboarding docs, because Gusto handles all of that. 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Plus don't pay a cent until you run your first pay payroll. So try gusto today@gusto.com tckr and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free payroll@gusto.com Tckr one more time gusto.com Tckr and I also learned this about Kyle. He was sort of the class clown, meaning he was just really witty and had a great sense of humor. Was always making those around him laugh. But what's really cool is he wasn't just the funny kid, he was also incredibly smart. He competed in math and Latin competitions and he even took it upon himself to find a school that he thought would be more academically challenging. So as you can already see, Kyle had some amazing qualities. But it's not just the qualities I mentioned. He was also just a genuinely good person. He volunteered his time at a food kitchen, helped elementary school children learn to read, and also would spend some of his time entertaining the memory impaired elderly. Which to me just says so much about his character that so early in his life he was already doing all these things and constantly seeking out ways to help other people around him. Kyle was also athletic. He loved playing soccer, swimming, he really enjoyed tennis. He was also active in the Boy Scouts and even had ambitions to one day become an Eagle Scout. And the Boy Scouts were great because he had a lot of opportunities to learn new things. And he loved learning, especially when it came to science and history, which is why he went and found that new school. He told his parents about it in sixth grade and he was enrolled the very next year. And Kyle truly thrived there. And one of the things that he was especially interested in was the programming club, which was an after school activity. And he liked to come up with his own ideas for technology. In fact, he developed an idea for an Apple watch modification that would allow distressed callers to send a message with their coordinates to emergency services during a natural disaster. It would also Send them the person's vital sign so emergency response team could help identify and prioritize who needed help immediately, which is such a genius idea, especially at that age. And it's pretty unbelievable and eerie, honestly, to think that he came up with this, given what would happen to him just a few months later. Which brings me to April 10, 2018. That day, he was taking their family's 2004 Honda Odyssey to school. So Jill woke up early to scrape the ice off the car and to make sure, you know, that he would get there safe. And because Kyle had planned to stay after school for a tennis match, Ron and Jill didn't expect him to be home until later that evening. But Kyle never came home. After finishing a math exam, he went to the north end of the school's sophomore parking lot to retrieve his shoes and tennis racket from his car. He then proceeded to climb into the back of the van, where he sat on top of the folded down third row bench seat in order to put on his shoes. And for context, this van has a feature that allows you to fold the top of the back seat forward, and then you can take the whole seat and flip backwards, turning it into sort of a divot trunk, basically just creating more storage in the back. And while Kyle was sitting on that third row seat, where just the top had been flipped down, it's believed that he reached over into the trunk to get his other shoe. But when he did that, the third row seat became dislodged and it automatically sprung backward, which forced Kyle head first into the trunk space where the seat would typically be stored, meaning that Kyle was stuck upside down with his torso pinned between the floor and the back row seat. Now, typically, these seats are latched in to prevent this from happening, but for whatever reason, the latch wasn't working. It has been said that an improperly stored spare tire may have been the issue, but it's hard to say what truly caused this. Either way, though, that seat was exerting 80 pounds of pressure on his chest. And for reference, Kyle was only 118 pounds. And because of some of the physical disabilities he had, he wasn't able to push himself up to get free. And not to mention, they believe that his arms were stuck at his side, making it just impossible for him to move. What's amazing, though, is how he still did everything in his power to try and save his own life. Since Kyle's phone was still in his pocket, he realized that he could use Siri to call 91 1. And at 3:16pm, Kyle dispatch received his first of two, 911 calls. Now, out of respect for his family, I am not going to be playing these calls today. First of all, they're just very disturbing. But his family, especially his mother, has made it clear that she doesn't want to hear them. I believe she's never heard them and there's no reason for her to listen to her son suffering. I know that a lot of coverage on this story does play the 911 calls. I've seen them all over TikTok, and obviously that's not surprising. So if you, I guess if you really want to hear it, you can find it. But I don't think it's necessary to hear him in that condition suffering. It's so upsetting. I have heard it myself and I. I really don't recommend looking it up. I really want to support whatever decision that their family has made here. However, I will of course be explaining certain parts of the call to you because it's very important that everyone understands that he did everything right in this situation. So since his phone was in his pocket and he obviously wasn't able to get to it, and he used Siri to place the 911 call, he couldn't actually hear what the dispatcher was saying. But of course, Kyle, being the smart young man that he was, he knew that he could just yell out the information and that the call taker would hear it, or so he thought. So over the course of this call, Kyle repeatedly yelled, help, Help. Help. And it's heartbreaking to even go over what he said on the call. I mean, the call is devastating enough as it is. But even just talking about it makes me so emotional. And I can't imagine how it'd be for people who actually knew and loved him to hear how hard he was trying, how distressed he was in this situation, as anyone would be. He said very clearly, I'm stuck in my van outside the Seven Hills parking lot. Help. I need help. And his pleas went on for a heartbreaking almost three minutes. And this, it's just horrible. But he explicitly said that he was going to die soon. Kyle made it so incredibly clear what a serious, life threatening situation he was in. And throughout this call, you can hear banging sounds. Between his desperate attempts to get rescued. And I don't think it's necessary to read the entire transcript to you, especially because I know his mom doesn't want to hear it, but I think you can imagine how it sounded. And after those three minutes, the call was disconnected. And the operator, Stephanie, did try calling him back, but it went straight to voicemail. And here's where things get outrageously mishandled. Okay, so Stephanie later reported that she couldn't really hear Kyle during his call. So while she worked on getting his coordinates from his cell phone provider. It's called phase two, she asked two other call takers to listen back to the audio recording to try and figure out what he was saying. And this resulted in a few failures. Actually, it turns out one of these call takers told Stephanie that the call was from a woman who said that she was stuck inside of her van. And what's frustrating about that is Kyle's voicemail explicitly shared his name. So she should have already known that the caller was a boy. Yet she reported to the officers that she dispatched that they should be looking for a woman. And then Stephanie also was told by the other call taker that this woman said, help me. I'm going to die. Yet that information was never disclosed to the officers on scene looking for this person. And then get this, which I will never understand. She waited seven minutes to put any information into the computer Aided Dispatch system. This is referred to as the CAD system, and it's what emergency call centers use to receive and log calls, dispatch first responders, and facilitate communication in real time. And it is essential, as you can imagine, to letting people know what type of assistance is needed and how urgently. But for some reason, Stephanie classified this call as unknown trouble instead of rescue, which is crazy to me, considering she knew that someone was trapped inside their car saying that they're going to die. And if she had put it in the system as rescue, the fire department would have also been dispatched and this would have been seen as urgent. Not to mention, firefighters had much more precise mapping equipment, and the likelihood of finding him would have been significantly increased. Stephanie also didn't tell the officers about Kyle's screams for help or the sounds of banging coming from inside the car. She did categorize it as a code 2, which signaled to the officers that this was serious, but they didn't treat it that way at all.
- [18:10]
Janet Freeman Daly
When I first heard the words, you have lung cancer, I. I was in shock.
- [18:16]
Podcast Host (Health Discovered)
This week on a special episode of Health Discovered we're taking a closer look at a common form of lung cancer that accounts for 85% of all cases.
- [18:27]
Janet Freeman Daly
I'm Janet Freeman Daly, and I've been living with non small cell lung cancer since 2011.
- [18:34]
Podcast Host (Health Discovered)
Non small cell lung cancer. It's a diagnosis that changes everything, and yet the conversation around it too often stops at the biology and and misses what patients are actually living through every single day.
- [18:47]
Janet Freeman Daly
There are some things you used to be able to do that you can't do anymore. It's easy to become depressed when you're dealing with all those losses, so mental health plays a really big role.
- [18:57]
Podcast Host (Health Discovered)
So what does it really mean to advocate for yourself when you're living with non small cell lung cancer? Listen to health discovered on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [19:12]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Take care of yourself this spring with great savings on all your favorite wellness brands. Now through April 28th. Save $5 when you buy three or more participating wellness items. Shop in store or online for products like Centrum Silver, Nexium, 24 Hour, Tums Ultra Strength or Smoothies tablets and Flonase spray. And save $5 when you buy three or more. Get these deals before they're gone. Offer ends April 28th. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.
- [19:43]
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- [20:47]
Kendall Rae
At 3:26pm Two Cincinnati police officers arrived at Seven Hills after being dispatched to try to locate Kyle, but according to their body cam footage, they never got out of the car and they were also never seen rolling down their windows or even turning off their music to try to listen for any screams. They did attempt to call Kyle and again it went straight to voicemail. But never once did they contact the school to see if there was a missing student. And believe it or not, they searched all the nearby lots except for the north end of the lot that he was in. They only searched, searched the south end. And at one point, they can literally be seen from a traffic camera driving right past Kyle's car. Oh, my God. It just infuriates me. And they never turned into that area to check it out for themselves. And they had to have known where he was, at least roughly, because Stephanie had given them an address based on Kyle's cell phone coordinates. And that address was 5471 Red Bank Road, otherwise known as the sophomore parking lot at Seven Hills, exactly where Kyle said he was in his call. Now, this parking lot is also shared with a thrift store. And Stephanie did say that it's likely he was there. And mind you, this thrift store was 350ft away from where Kyle was parked. So this is where the search obviously should have started. And if it was, it's likely that Kyle would have been found alive. And we know that because while they were driving around, he called 911 for a second time at 3:35pm and in this call, his voice seems even more urgent. And he also does something incredibly smart. Kyle provides them with very specific information about the type of van that he was in. He mentions again that he was in the sophomore parking lot of Seven Hills and includes that he's in a gold Honda Odyssey. And this next part of the call is absolutely heartbreaking. I feel like that doesn't even cover it. It is gut wrenching. It is so disturbing. It is devastating. But Kyle can also be heard telling the operator that he doesn't have much time left and he wants them to tell his mother that he loves her. And on top of that, he also yells, this is not a joke. And that he was almost dead. And so you would think that this information would be absolutely critical for the dispatch officers to know, but they weren't told any of it. And this is when another dispatcher comes into the story. Her name is Amber, and she failed Kyle even further. And the details are just, oh, they're so infuriating. For starters, partway through the call, Amber enables what is called the TTY function. TTY stands for teletype writer. And it allows deaf or hearing impaired callers to type their message out as a way to communicate. And when it's enabled, it reduces the audio levels by 75%. And you essentially just communicate over text. So when she turned that on, it made it almost impossible to hear anything that Kyle was saying. And she later tried to justify this by saying that she couldn't hear him. To begin with. And so she thought he needed it. However, when he wasn't communicating via text, she never turned this function back off, which she absolutely should have done. And I guess it was apparently because she didn't know how. And this is absolutely maddening. But she also didn't go back and listen to the recorded version of the call, which we now know captured Kyle's audio perfectly clear. And all of these operators at least should know that the audio is available to listen to right away. This is something they are always taught in training or should be. And if she did, she may have been able to hear Kyle cry for help for those three minutes before the call got disconnected. And believe it or not, it actually only gets worse from here. So Amber then went to put the call details that she did have into the CAD system, but she said that her terminal froze. Yet when the system was back up and running, she didn't try again. Instead, she attempted to call Kyle back, but just like when Stephanie did, it of course, went straight to voicemail. And what is so frustrating is that she was able to see that he was a repeat caller. But for whatever reason, she didn't inform anyone that this call came in. And keep in mind that the officers were still at the school looking for Kyle. So had they known that he had called a second time and that he had gave very specific details about what car they could find him in, there was a chance that they would have kept looking. But instead, at 3:37pm, they closed the incident and just left the scene just two minutes after this second desperate call. That's only 11 minutes that they spent looking for him. And only three of those minutes were captured by body cam, because for some reason they turned their cameras off while they were speaking to Douglas Allen, who was a fellow deputy who was outside the school helping direct traffic. But after hearing the situation, Deputy Allen assured them that he hadn't seen anything. On a somewhat positive note, he did make an effort to try and locate this caller, who at first, at, you know, at this point, he was told was a woman. And he even called the original 911 operator, Stephanie, to try and get more information. And he walked around some of the lots to try and see if he could find this person. And I guess at one point he did actually find a white van, but obviously that wasn't the one that Kyle was trapped in. And. And he also attempted to call Kyle several times, which is when he realized that this caller was a boy, a young boy. And this is very upsetting, Very, very frustrating, like, beyond words. But Deputy Allen actually suggested that this may have just been a prank, which, God, that pisses me off. However, unlike the others, he did contact someone from Kyle's school. But the problem was nobody reported a student missing. So he basically just gave up at that point and left Kyle with no chance of survival. And to make this already devastating situation a thousand times worse, Kyle's father was actually the one to find him.
- [27:13]
Narrator
That day back in April was like any other weeknight. Kyle was staying after school for a tennis match. Mom Jill was home making brownies for Kyle's tennis luncheon the next. But she always kept track of her kids, and this day was no different.
- [27:29]
Jill Plush
And I saw that his phone was at school, so I just thought he was still at the tennis match.
- [27:35]
Narrator
But as the day turned to night, Jill and her husband Ron knew something wasn't right.
- [27:40]
Jill Plush
So then we started to become very concerned because he wasn't home. And then we got ahold of the tennis coach who said that he did not come to tennis that day.
- [27:50]
Ron Plush
I remember the exact moment when I told Jill, I said, Call 911. I'm driving to the school right now. And I opened the garage and got in my car and drove as fast as I could.
- [28:01]
Narrator
You knew something was wrong?
- [28:03]
Ron Plush
Yes.
- [28:03]
Narrator
When you see his van in that parking lot, what are you thinking?
- [28:07]
Ron Plush
The first thing I thought was he possibly could have been abducted.
- [28:12]
Narrator
At what point do you realize, oh my God, this has been a tragic accident.
- [28:17]
Ron Plush
You know, Jill has tracked his phone to this location. I said, it's likely in the van or somewhere around the van. So I had, I had looked in the front seat. I saw his tennis racket in the front seat. So I knew immediately he never made it, you know, to the tennis match.
- [28:34]
Kendall Rae
By this point, Jill had called the police to file a missing persons report. But once Ron looked in the backseat, he realized that their son wasn't missing. He was trapped. And despite attempting CPR, it was too late. They had actually used the Life 360 app to successfully track his location. Another example of why that app is so amazing to have. Yet the police couldn't do something as simple as going to the address of the emergency. It took over six hours from the time that he had placed his first 911 call for emergency services to arrive on scene. And obviously by that time, it was far too late. 16 year old Kyle Plush died due to mechanical asphyxiation as a result of the 80 pound seat compressing his lungs. And his manner of death was ruled accidental. So the next day Ron and Jill had to meet with the coroner, and it was during that meeting that they were informed that Kyle had called 911. As if losing your child in such a horrific freak accident like that isn't painful enough. They then find out that Kyle had done everything right and still wasn't saved. And that is just a pain that no parent should ever have to feel.
- [29:49]
Ron Plush
Talking to the coroner at the time, and at some point in time, she. She mentioned to us that whether we knew that Kyle had made a 911 call. And I. I was just in shock.
- [30:08]
Kendall Rae
So obviously, at this point, there were still so many unanswered questions. And something that became a question pretty quickly is, what happened with that back seat? Why did it all of a sudden flip over like that? And as I mentioned earlier, there may have been a spare tire that was in a bad place which prevented it from locking. But there was also some talk about whether this van could have been recalled. Apparently, 46,000 Odyssey minivans from 2008 to 2009 were recalled, and several thousand more were recalled between 2011 and 2017. However, Kyle's van was a 2004 model, so of course it wasn't included. And I wish I had a better answer for you guys about what truly caused this, but all I do know at the end of the day is that none of it was Kyle's fault.
- [30:58]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. You don't want to miss the annual beauty event. For big savings on all your favorite beauty products now through April 28, spend $25 on participating products and save $5. Shop in store or online for items like Billie women's razors, Billie body buffer or body wash Native hand soap, Neutrogena Makeup Remover talents and Q Tips. And save $5 when you spend 25. Offer ends April 28. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.
- [31:31]
Kendall Rae
Cox Internet de tresientas megas tiene las velocidades rapidas e comfiables que buscas perfecto para streaming e gaming y TRA bajar des de casa todo porsolon. Nues Perez cambia te oy a Cox mobile gig unlimited. And I think what makes this case so especially devastating? And of course, if anyone experienced this, it's just horrific and devastating beyond words. But Kyle was just such a special person, and he was so loved by everyone that knew him. And his death was felt so deeply by his community during the memorial visitation. The line of people was so long that it went all the way through the funeral home's parking lot and into the Kroger parking lot next to it. And despite it being cold and rainy that day, it did not stop people from waiting outside to say their goodbyes, which I think just says so much about the impact that he made in his 16 short years of life. And on April 16, when his funeral was held, the support was just as overwhelming as people showed up by the busload. And while it was a tough day, it was also filled with beautiful memories of Kyle. His school provided buses to bring any of his classmates who wanted to attend, and city officials even showed up, including the mayor of Cincinnati and his mother. Jill had a huge fear of public speaking, so much so that she felt like she wouldn't be able to deliver the eulogy herself. And she asked her sister to do it, which I completely understand. I mean, it's not only the fear of public speaking, obviously, but also the fact that she's going through this incredibly traumatic time and is in shock to have to get up there in front of all these people and speak about your child. I don't know if I could do it. But on the morning of his funeral, she said that she had this overwhelming feeling that she needed to be the one to deliver the eulogy, and she felt like it was really the last thing that she could do for her son. I just have so much respect for her, for all of his family. I mean, I cannot imagine what going through something like this would truly be like, especially when it's something that you were not expecting to happen at all, Something so shocking to your beautiful child to lose them in that way. I mean, it's just beyond words. It's. Oh, my God, the strength of this family. So Jill used the eulogy to talk about Kyle's cheerful personality, his many passions, his joy for life, and the legacy that he'll be leaving behind, she said, in part. And now, through your courageous bravery in the last moments of your life, you have touched the lives of so many more people who now love you, too. And that is so true. Kyle impacted so many people beyond the people who had the pleasure of knowing him while he was alive. I mean, his story has truly touched my heart in so many ways, and I hope that so many of you feel the same after learning about him and just what an amazing young man he was. I mean, he was only 16. He was so smart, so kind, already spending so much time trying to help other people be the best version of himself he could be. And that seemed to Just be natural to him. And from this moment forward, both Kyle's parents have made it really their sole mission to figure out what failures led to his death and make sure that it never happens to anyone again. Because if there's one thing we can all agree on here is that Kyle did nothing wrong. In fact, he did everything right. And this never should have happened. But someone's at fault. Who's at fault? Was it the 911 operators? Was it the technology? Was it the officers? Was it a combination of all three? And so, to answer this, several investigations and meetings have been held, but not all of them have been helpful. A preliminary investigation from mid April found that both technical problems and human error may have played a role in this. However, several things were working just fine, including the CAD system that Amber said froze up on her. Now, they later learned that it had crashed a few times, but nothing that would have impacted her ability to report Kyle's second call. And a review of their systems was long overdue. There were problems with low staffing and inadequate training, as well as with their outdated technology systems. Thankfully, though, the city council approved $454,000 towards improving their systems and hiring new staff. But that is not enough. There needs to be better training, reliable equipment, a more desirable work environment, and also just higher standards for how they gauge the success of each call that comes through. And honestly, that doesn't even cover it all. And thankfully, people like the Plush family are committed to making sure that all of this happens and more. On April 17, they sat through a five hour special city council meeting that aimed to discuss the circumstances and failures surrounding Kyle's death. However, it ended on a bitter note after one councilman suggested that they were just looking for a payday, which is not only just outright false, but incredibly offensive. Then on May 14, there was another meeting to discuss the results of an internal investigation that was conducted by the Cincinnati Police Department. Everyone wanted to know more about what failures led to this and how they were going to be corrected. The results were presented to the Law and Public Safety Committee along with members of Kyle's family. But in all honesty, this meeting fell short of its intended goal. The police chief, Elliot Isaac, presented the results of the 50 page report, and they basically found that there were some technical and personnel problems, but ultimately the operators and responding officers acted, quote, according to proper procedures, meaning they were not to blame. Now, Chief Isaacs said that they did need to, quote, do better, but he continuously defended the actions of those involved. And if you guys are interested in reading the entire report, for yourself. It is available and I will have that linked in the show notes of this episode. But I did want to share a few key takeaways from the meeting. One of those being that Cincinnati police officers don't have high quality maps in their patrol cars. A big question in all of this was whether or not the officers received Kyle's coordinates from the operator, and if they did, why didn't they go there? And that was still up in the air as of this meeting. But we did learn that the mapping equipment that they use was very outdated, which is one of the many changes that the city is looking to make. Another takeaway is that someone at the operating center did in fact hear Kyle say that he was going going to die. And it was one of those two call takers that Stephanie had listened to the recorded audio. And why that information was never relayed to the officers is still unknown. And on that note, the officers apparently were unaware that the situation was life threatening. And it really just feels impossible to wrap your head around how even after all of Kyle's efforts to explain the seriousness of the situation, nobody acted with any urgency and how nobody has really taken any responsibility here. There were definitely small admissions of where things failed, but by no means did this report give anyone confidence that the police department recognized where they failed and how they plan to do better in the future. Thankfully, Kyle's dad and his aunt had the opportunity to speak and they made some really good points. I mean, for starters, Ron vowed to help improve the city's 911 system so that this couldn't happen to anyone going forward. And he also talked about how an outside investigation needs to be done, one without politics and personal conflicts getting in the way, which the committee agreed was a good idea with unanimous support. And get this. During the next meeting on May 29, they publicly admitted for the first time that the first operator did have Kyle's GPS coordinates from his phone, but that she never sent those coordinates to the police officers. She just sent that address, which is obviously far more general. If she had sent the coordinates or if they had asked for them, they would have been directed to a location only 5 to 10ft from Kyle's car.
- [40:13]
News Reporter
Today, for the first time, Police admitted publicly 911 operators had the GPS coordinates and that they showed where Kyle was. Those were not used to find him. It's what we showed you in the days after Kyle's death. The coordinates 911 had put into the map drop a pin nearly on top of the spot where Kyle was eventually
- [40:37]
Ryan Seacrest
located in this case, the approximate location was within 5 to 10ft of where Kyle was later found.
- [40:43]
Kendall Rae
In somewhat positive news as a result of this, officers will now be required to call operators back and ask for more information if they can't locate the caller, which you think would just be a no brainer and something that would have already been in place. Apparently it wasn't. And also as a result, the city began actively looking to improve their mapping technology. They were also going to look into technology that would allow the officers to see what 911 operators can see on their computers so they have all the information that they need up front. This same technology would allow the operators to see the location of the officers so that they can better direct them on where to go. And this is just one of many changes promised by the city.
- [41:29]
Ryan Seacrest
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- [42:04]
Kendall Rae
But of course, promising something is one thing, it's the actual execution of it that matters. And Ron and Jill were very vocal about how they didn't feel like the city was actually implementing these changes. And they were concerned that would son could happen again if effective change wasn't made. Because it's not just about quickly changing the system for them. It's about getting to the absolute root of the problem so that this doesn't happen again. And for a while, it was sort of a waiting game. That is until November of 2018, when that independent investigation report was actually released. And sadly, but not super surprising, it was very disappointing. Like the earlier report, this one stated that everyone at the police department acted according to policy and therefore nobody would be charged. Amber had been put on administrative leave for a week right after the incident occurred. But that was literally it. And the Plush family was not satisfied, as you can imagine, and they had hoped for more answers. And it turns out that the two firms who performed the investigation didn't conduct new interviews with the people who were involved. Their findings essentially justified the actions of those involved, even going as far as to say they behaved reasonably given the circumstances, which is just such A massive slap in the face to this family. One thing that it found is that improving morale and increasing training could be helpful. But obviously that wasn't new information. And because Ron and Jill felt like they had no other choice, they decided to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, as they should. So they went ahead and did that in August of 2019 with the help of civil rights attorney Al Garhardstein, who is no stranger to fighting for systematic change. And I'm sure many of you have heard of him, but he represented James Obergefell in a landmark Supreme Court case that actually led to the legalization of same sex marriage. And they thought he was the perfect fit because he understood this lawsuit wasn't about money. And that's why they were only suing for $25,000. For them was only really about uncovering problems and finding solutions to prevent it from ever happening again. Plus, they also hired their own experts to investigate what went wrong because the last few clearly didn't dig deep enough. And they ultimately found failures from both operators and both responding officers. Stephanie failed by not entering the information into the CAD system in a timely manner, by misclassifying the call as unknown trouble instead of rescue, and by failing to relay essential information. Things like the banging sounds and Kyle stating that he was going to die. Amber failed by wrongfully enabling the TTY function and not turning it off when she realized it wasn't necessary, and also by not relaying the audio recording of his 911 call, which would have allowed her to hear everything he said. And lastly, the responding officers failed by not thoroughly searching all areas of the parking lot and by not utilizing their GPS tools to pinpoint his location. And in the end, In April of 2021, the Plushes ended up reaching a $6 million settlement. For them, the real win changes that were promised. Take a listen.
- [45:18]
Civil Rights Attorney Al Gerhardstein
Today we're announcing the settlement of the lawsuit. The most important thing in the settlement is the reform measures. We've got an agreement with the city that establishes an expert team, 911 experts from all over the country. Tracy Eldridge from Massachusetts, Tony Harrison from North Carolina, Michael Boucher of Connecticut. And they will work with Bill Vedra, the ECC director, to make sure that enhancements and reforms take root in Cincinnati. We've got court supervision of this agreement. The agreement will last five years. And the scope of the work that these experts will engage in includes full thoroughly exploring all the actions that everyone took that failed. Kyle, identifying the systemic issues, the training, the quality assurance, the protocol issues, and make sure that every one of them gets fixed. Make sure that we know when and how to use the TTY machine. Make sure that we know when to label something unknown trouble and how to explain, explore and investigate it so that people don't get lost. These experts will work with Director Bill Vedra to get national certification and they'll work with him to establish a culture at the ECC to help the staff actually achieve the level of excellence that we should expect. And they'll stay on the job for five years until the reforms have taken such deep root that they can't be undone.
- [47:06]
Kendall Rae
And I know I say this all the time. I'm sure I sound like a broken record, but I am always just so amazed. I don't even think cuts it. I am floored and inspired by families who can turn these types of tragedies into something for the greater good and the hardest time of their lives through the most traumatic experience possible. Just the strength to be able to do that blows me away. Which is exactly what the Plush family has done and a huge reason why I wanted to talk about Kyle's story. As a result of the lawsuit, there was even a 47 page report that was released which gave very specific recommendations for how to improve emergency communications. And of course we would be here forever if I went through all 47 pages. But. But I'll be sure to link the report below if you guys are interested in learning more. And believe it or not, his parents work extends even further than that. In fact, a lot of it was done even before this lawsuit was announced and settled. Just a month after Kyle passed away, Jill was visiting a friend in Knoxville, Tennessee. And while she was there, she learned that there was a conference for the National Emergency Number association being held nearby. So she and her friend decided to go ahead and check it out. And this says so much about Jill's character and I just have to say once again, this happened only a month after Kyle passed. But going to this gave her the idea to want to do something to support the community of first responders. So they ended up creating the Kyle Plush Answer the Call foundation, which seeks to support 911 professionals who ensure that they're performing their best when it's needed most. And over the years, the foundation has worked to improve morale for emergency call workers by doing things like sending care packages and gourmet cookies to remind them that their work is appreciated. The foundation also established its own Challenge Coin, which is a medallion typically given to service members and it honors someone's contributions to their organizations. Ron, Jill and Other volunteers have also visited emergency call centers to share their experiences and empower them to be their best selves while working so that this doesn't happen to anyone else ever again. And Ron has said that the purpose isn't to criticize or to focus on what went wrong, but on what should have gone right. Him and Jill take a very positive approach to how they can help change the system, and I just really admire how they're able to do that after everything they've gone through. And again, I just don't know if I would have that strength. And another thing they've focused on is they really want people to know and understand all the ways that cell phone technology can help you in an emergency. And this is something that we should all be educated on and it's not talked about nearly enough. And a few of Kyle's friends have actually made tutorial video for the foundation about specific phone features that can assist people in dire situations. And I wanted you guys to see two of them. So take a look.
- [50:03]
Kyle's Friend or Foundation Member
In many emergency situations, you won't know exactly where you are, but even if you don't, your phone does, and you can easily access this information if you have an iPhone. First open the Maps app, then tap the blue dot and swipe up on the menu at the bottom of your screen. Now you can see both your address and GPS coordinates to share with your call taker so that they can locate you precisely. Now on an Android phone, the process is pretty similar. Just open the Maps app and press and hold over the blue dot to drop a pin. This will display your address if there is one nearby, as well as your GPS coordinates. When speaking to a call taker, the most useful information to share is your address, and if you have the choice, this is much more helpful than your coordinates. But if an address is not available, using GPS coordinates is still the best way to get help fast.
- [50:52]
IPhones have a feature called Emergency SOS that allows you to dial 9 1, 1 simply by using the outer buttons on your phone. If you're using an iPhone 8 or later, you would just press and hold the side button along with either of the volume buttons. When the Emergency SOS slider appears, you can either keep holding the buttons down to start a 5 second countdown or or just drag the Emergency SOS slider on the screen. The other way to use Emergency SOS applies to all iPhone models. To set the feature up, go to Settings Emergency SOS and then turn on Call with side button or Sleep Wake button. Now your phone will call Emergency SOS when you rapidly click the designated button five times.
- [51:36]
Kendall Rae
I really love everything that this foundation stands for. I think the work is so incredibly important and often something as a society we tend to overlook. So I wanted to make a donation on behalf of my channel and all of you who support this show to support their efforts and continue the amazing work that they're doing. And if any of you are also feeling inspired and want to get involved and help, I'm going to link their website in the show notes as well in case you want to make a donation. They also want more people to know about Smart911, which I think is something we could all benefit from. Now, Smart911 is a free app and a website, smart911.com that allows you to enter specific information about yourself, which dispatch workers can easily access. During a 911 call, you can input information like your address, the types of medications you take, what car you have, who lives in your house, basically anything that you would want an emergency worker to know. It aims to enhance emergency responses, and it's exactly the type of thing Kyle was trying to do with that technology that he conceptualized before he passed away.
- [52:40]
News Reporter or Interviewer
It has been six months since the tragedy. Ron and Jill Plush remain on a mission. The awareness level of what happened to their son Kyle remains high, but the rest of it. Have you signed up for Smart911?
- [52:52]
Kendall Rae
No, I don't know what it is.
- [52:53]
News Reporter or Interviewer
We'll take more work.
- [52:54]
Kendall Rae
I just saw the news this morning, so.
- [52:56]
News Reporter or Interviewer
So you're just becoming aware of it now?
- [52:57]
Ron Plush
Yes. Most of you have heard about the tragedy that happened to our son Kyle.
- [53:01]
News Reporter or Interviewer
So Kyle's parents, his sister Allie and best friend Matt have recorded public service announcements to emphasize that Smart911 will provide critical information to first responders which was missing last April after the trapped teen had made two desperate 911 calls and could not be located in time.
- [53:19]
Jill Plush
We need to arm our emergency dispatchers and first responders with information to help them make faster and better decisions.
- [53:29]
News Reporter or Interviewer
More than 12,000 people and families have signed up since June, but that's well below where they'd like to be.
- [53:35]
Ron Plush
A lot of people, you know, it's out of sight, out of mind. You think it can't happen to me, and I can tell you firsthand, it can happen to you. So please take the time.
- [53:47]
News Reporter or Interviewer
At city hall, the light of publicity started shining on the smart 911 push.
- [53:51]
Kendall Rae
We're asking, please talk about it at your school assemblies. Let the kids know that this is available and that they or their Parents should sign up.
- [53:58]
News Reporter or Interviewer
Councilmember Amy Merrill Murray points out you don't have to be a city or county resident to sign up.
- [54:03]
Kendall Rae
I've had a call from a football team, and they said, we talked about it and we're all doing it.
- [54:07]
News Reporter or Interviewer
80% of 911 calls come from cell phones unless registered. With Smart911, you're unidentified and here's one critical point. You are the one who will determine just how much information you want in there. We're told it would only be used for 911-emergency purposes, not for any other purpose.
- [54:30]
Kendall Rae
So if you are interested, you can sign up for free on their website. Again, that's smart911.com, or just go to your app store and download the Smart911 app. Before wrapping up today, I want to also share a few other things that have been done in Kyle's honor. So at a cardboard boat Regatta in 2018, his best friend made a boat to honor Kyle, which is something that the two of them always like doing together. And another thing they did is they had a pavilion constructed in Stanbury park, which was a park that was very near and dear to Kyle's heart. What happened to Kyle is a tragedy in the truest sense of the word. And thinking about what he could have done with his life, considering how smart he was, how loving and caring and passionate about helping others he was, it's just heartbreaking. And such a major loss to not only his family, but to society as a whole. I know this case is very different from what I normally cover, but I really hope this story resonated with you and maybe taught you some things. Most of us trust that calling emergency services is the best thing that you can do in an emergency situation. And don't get me wrong, of course, it still is. But in this case, Kyle was profoundly failed. That being said, and I know I already said this in the beginning of the episode, I just really want to drive this home, that there are so many amazing first responders and dispatchers and people who are passionate about their work and, you know, do everything in their power to help as many people as they can. And so many of them are heroes in my eyes. And I really want to thank all of you out there in my audience who are first responders, who do work in dispatch, who are really on the front lines in emergency situations. What you do is so heroic and so deeply appreciated. And I just wanted to say truly thank you. Maybe for some of you out there, if you haven't heard Kyle's story, that it could reinspire you or maybe motivate you to continue to put your best foot forward. And if you aren't a first responder, I hope this episode reminds you that life is incredibly precious and we should never take a single moment for granted because you just never know what could happen to you, you or a loved one on a daily basis. So I think living like Kyle, trying to live life to the fullest is so important and just never hurts for us all to be reminded of that, you know, whenever we can. Again, Kyle's favorite quote was carpe diem, and I think that that is something that we should all live by. I definitely want to hear all of your thoughts on Kyle's story, and I'd love to hear from some of you who are, you know, working on the front lines, working as first responders, and maybe some of the experiences that you've had, both positive and negative, or people who have had those experiences as a civilian. I'd love to hear your experiences, positive and negative as well. That is going to be it for me today guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Rae. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there.
- [58:03]
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