"You can die of the cure before you die of the illness."- Michael Landon
Last February (2012), an 81 year old South Daytona man had his first heart attack. His wife, daughter and 13 year old grand daughter immediately did the right thing. They picked up their phone and dialed 9-1-1.
However, Volusia County 9-1-1 dispatchers sent the ambulance crew to the wrong house, over four miles from Archie Beard's home.
As family frantically attempted to start CPR on Archie, County dispatchers realized their mistake and directed the ambulance to the correct house. It took over fourteen (14) minutes for them to arrive. Archie Beard paid the ultimate price for this mistake, he died.
In the below Daytona Beach News Journal article, County officials expressed their "hopes" that Archie's February 12th death was an exception, and not the rule.
County officials must have forgotten the incident, in October 2011, when their ambulance crew got lost for approximately fourty five (45) minutes. During that particular incident, a child's life / health was put at risk. We invite you to review our earlier article on the October 2011 incident, see the below web link.
We also invite you to listen to the 9-1-1 calls made by Archie Beard's family. Imagine, just for a second, you are in that situation - would you expect better from your county officials?
THINK HARD - your's or a love one's life might just hang in the balance.
Listen to the 9-1-1 calls from Archie Beard's family