SHELBY, N.C. -- Six 911 calls went unanswered while a baby who wasn't breathing desperately needed help.
Five-month-old Allyson Ray Smith was dead by the time help finally arrived. Her parents are furious at the gap in response time and no one picking up the phone when they repeatedly dialed 911 in Cleveland County.
Now, the Cleveland County 911 Communications Center is trying to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.
"Every morning was one thing we could look forward to and that was her beautiful smile," said mother Whitney Moses.
Last Friday morning, 5-month-old Allyson Ray Smith didn't wake up. She was warm, but wasn't breathing.
Moses called 911.
"It just continuously rings, continuously," she said.
Allyson's father, Randy Smith, called 911. Her grandparents called 911. A total of six calls to the Cleveland County communications center went unanswered.
Smith gave his daughter CPR, and help finally arrived about 30 minutes after the first call.
"They said, 'Sorry, she's gone,'" Smith said. "We were upset, tore up, mad."
Now, the family is questioning whether the unanswered 911 calls and delay in response caused Allyson's death, or was it already too late?
"We won't ever know," Smith said.
David Dodd, director of Cleveland County's communications department, said the 911 calls went through but the phones at the center didn't ring, so no one picked up.
"They did what they were supposed to do. They called 911. They didn't get an answer," Dodd said. "Any interruption in service is unacceptable and we deeply regret what happened. We're doing everything we can to find out why it happened and fix it."
But, Dodd says, he still isn't sure what happened. He believes it is an equipment problem, not human error.
Help finally arrived at the family's house because one of the 911 calls went to Rutherford County, and operators there contacted Cleveland County, saying an ambulance needed to be sent to the residence.
The family is waiting for autopsy results before deciding if they'll pursue legal options. The family also said medical experts told them 5-month-old Allyson could have died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Cleveland County's communications department contracts with AT&T for its 911 service. That company issued the following response Tuesday: "This is certainly a tragedy for the family and our thoughts are with them. Our network specialists are working with the equipment manufacturer to thoroughly and aggressively investigate this event and how the calls were processed. At this time there is no evidence of any malfunction on the part of AT&T's equipment or network. We will continue our investigation and work with Cleveland County emergency management personnel to assure that customers can continue to depend upon their local 911 system."
