Thread by @Perla_Trevizo

(THREAD) Newly obtained 911 audio reveals harrowing details of an agonizing nearly 3-hour long wait where half a family was found dead after being poisoned by #carbonmonoxide. At its peak, millions of households were left without power across Texas.

2/ In the middle of a massive winter storm, Houston firefighters responded to a call about a family fainting but left when no one answered the door.

3/ When a 2nd crew returned, they found a mother & daughter dead. A father & son were lying on the floor, still breathing. They were rushed to the hospital.
propublica.org/article/texas-…

4/ Michael Negussie, the family’s cousin who called 911, had told a fire captain in the dispatch center he thought it was CO poisoning because he learned the car was running inside the garage.

That information didn’t get back to the crew on scene.
nbcnews.com/video/911-call…

5/ While the exact time of death is not known, @johnsonarbor, a CO expert, told us time can make a difference. “It is certainly possible that earlier discovery could have saved their lives and/or resulted in less significant clinical outcomes for the surviving individuals.”

6/ More than a month after we started to ask about this case, the Houston Fire Department launched an investigation. “A thorough review is underway and any breach of policy will be held to account,” HFD Chief Samuel Peña told us.

7/ Forced entry is a serious decision, fire officials said, that relies on the info 1st responders get from dispatch and what they see/hear, but ultimately on their discretion. There’s no uniformity in how these calls are handled across the country, leaving it up to each dept.

8/ EMS experts such as Bill Toon told us this story was not unusual but couldn’t say the magnitude of the problem because there’s no research or data to quantify it.

9/ We found multiple examples from across the country, including 2 that made it to the Illinois Supreme Court, one as early as 1995, where crews left without making contact with the person who needed help because no one answered the door.
chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-19…

10/ These cases, 6 experts told us, show why policy changes are needed in a fragmented industry.

In an interview, Toon said, it's time to research this area to create best practices/guidelines "so we do a better job in not letting these people slip through the cracks.”

11/ The surviving husband of the Houston family sued companies that supply power to the TX electric grid, but not the fire department, which is shielded in most cases from personal injury or wrongful death claims.

12/ He told us back in April he tries not to dwell on what went wrong, focusing on his son, who spent nearly a month in the hospital recovering. “I have to be strong for him.”
texastribune.org/2021/04/29/tex…

Collaboration with @LChurchill @SuzyKhimm @Mike_Hixenbaugh; illustrations by @dizdizh via @ProPublica @TexasTribune @NBCNews