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By JULIA FERRANTE
The Tampa Tribune
NEW PORT RICHEY - The 911 dispatcher who handled a July 9 call about two boys who died from carbon monoxide poisoning is facing possible suspension for failing to provide life-saving instructions to their mother in a timely manner.
Ilona Smith, a lead communications officer who has worked for Pasco County since 1988, also was reprimanded for having a “callous” tone and demeanor in dealing with the mother, who has said she was unconscious for a day before discovering her boys “as cold as ice” and not breathing.
Smith is the third Pasco dispatcher to be disciplined in recent months for mishandling a 911 call. Facing termination, a communications supervisor and a lead communications officer resigned after they failed to provide instructions in the Heimlich maneuver before a Land O’ Lakes woman choked to death in March.
Smith’s actions raised suspicion after Emergency Services Director Anthony Lopinto heard an excerpt from the call on a local television broadcast and noticed she was not displaying compassion for the mother, he said. Lopinto listened to the tape in its entirety and discovered another problem – a 1 1/2-minute delay before CPR instructions were offered.
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