Police Statement: Death Of 91-Yr-Old Woman
Last Friday [July 1] police and ambulance responded to a 911 call from an elderly woman saying she needed medical assistance.
Dispatchers ascertained she was somewhere near ‘Horizons’ in Paget, but they could not determine her name or address before the call terminated. They were unable to re-contact the caller or trace the telephone number. Responders searched the Horizons property and nearby area, conducted house to house enquiries, but could not locate the woman.
The following day the police were called to a cottage near the Horizons property where a member of the public had found the body of a 91 year old woman outside her home. Foul play is not suspected, but an autopsy will be performed to confirm the cause of death.
The full police statement is below:
At 5:20 pm on Friday 1st July police & ambulance staff responded to a 911 call from an elderly woman who reported that she needed medical assistance.
Dispatchers ascertained that the woman was somewhere near ‘Horizons’ in Paget, but they could not determine her name or address before the call terminated. They were unable to re-contact the caller or trace the telephone number.
Responders searched the Horizons property and nearby area, but could not locate the woman. Police conducted house to house enquiries without success and workers in the area could not provide any assistance.
Responders eventually left the area and dispatchers continued efforts to contact or identify the caller.
Police officers returned to the Horizons area later in the evening and continued house to house enquiries with those residents who had not been home earlier. No-one was able to identify the caller or provide any information to identify a potential victim.
At 9:40am on Saturday 2nd July police were called to a cottage near the Horizons property where a member of the public had found the lifeless body of a 91 year old woman outside her home.
Medical staff attended and confirmed death at the scene. Foul play is not suspected, but an autopsy will be performed to confirm the cause of death.
No further information about this tragic incident can be given until the deceased’s next of kin, who are believed to live overseas, have been notified.
Oh gosh so sad. May she rest in peace. Thuoghts and prayers to her family
What sort of 911 system do we have?
Stop it!!! Everyone is a critic. We have a good 911 system that works well for the island. But no one is psychic. The call was dropped on the callers end. They tried to trace it; but maybe they lost the call before they could or it was probably a cell phone. Verry Very unfortunate, but no one is to blame here. The people that work in the emergency system care verry much. I was a firefighter with the service in Bermuda so I know. Condolences to the family of the lady. God be with her and comfort to the family for thier loss.
I totally agree with you! Couldn’t have said it better.
….”Bermuda does not have an E911 system is not good enough”….for the amount of overspend on govt capital projects over the last 5 years we could have installed an E911 system to cover the whole island and still have money left over…” All due respect to those that work in in the 911 system…technology is here…availble…it works, landline or cell phone and and it works very well in other countries which are far smaller than 22 square miles. What a sad death to die alone and not be found until the next day..
If you are asking why the lady may she rest in peace was not found by way of the phone call it state’s in the report that the call could not be traced before it was terminated. A call line has to be kept open for a trace to be made. The report said that police carried out house to house checks twice but were unable to gather any information. From the report the system operator’s did all they could. Again may she rest in peace.
What sort of family does she have is the question you should be asking. She called at 5:20 on Friday evening and your telling me no one checked on her until 9:40 the next day. She’s 91 yrs old!
I’m in no way blaming the family! This is very unfortunate but don’t start blaming our 911 system for not being able to locate her. May she rest in peace and my condolences to her family.
The problem is that Bermuda doesn’t have an E911 system (or Enhanced 911) this system interfaces the caller ID with the billing address of the number. The 911 dispatcher will instantly (withing 5 seconds) have the information.
As people say, this is not great for cell phones, but, with a billing address there is a place to start looking.
Sad indeed, I hate that she had to pass with no one there to comfort her. But good job to the folks who made the effort to search for her.
May she rest in peace.
I commend the 911 Dispatchers, Bda Police Service, Emt’s and the Fire Service for their continued efforts in providing emergency care to our island. I am sure that that it must have been heart wrenching to know that an elderly lady was in need and unable to assist.
I am however; dismayed with the family of the 91yr old lady, at that age, no one should be left to care for themselves. She should have been given care from the family on a 24hrs basis, nurse, live in caretaker or placed into a home. The fact tht she lived alone, and probably had to endure this scary life threatening situation alone brings tears to the eyes.
What happened to Life alert, to the very least.
Sad story.
I think this needs investigation. The phone was on so why was it terminted……
Not being a critic but maybe they should get “caller ID” than they would have seen the number and would have have been able to follow up with BTC to get the address…Also just because she was 91 does not necessarily mean she should have been receiving 24hr care, have a care taker or placed in a home..My “papa” passed two years ago, he was 98 (may he RIP) he lived alone and was very independent. he was travelling right up until his mid 90′s by himself (loved barbados). Maybe she was a lot like him, independent and able to care for herself…To BPS thanks to members of the public you were able to locate her and bring some closure to this unfortunate event.. to the sfamily you have my condolences…
The 911 system here is very flawed! If they don’t get name and date of birth out of you, they don’t budge! This has happened to me so I know what I’m talking about!
So what kind of seemingly antiquated 911 system do we have ??
Maybe the person asking about the 911 system we have is only saying it could be better. Stop being so quick to think everyone has something bad to say. There are details unknown in this case. So the next time someone asks a question on a topic you can speak about(i.e.911 system)educate them instead of assuming the worse.
911 how may I direct your call……Medical, Police, need a spliff….sorry please hold……
Fact/s is the lady was elderly so must have been up to date. Lets be fair, she probabley had a medical moment. We are so quick to judge. I am sure she did. Prayers and best to the family.
Ps. I don’t even have a cell phone. But then again, I am not normal right?
I know that Bermuda is literally full of experts who are always quick to criticize anyone and everyone, but I’d like to suggest a little caution in jumping to too many conclusions in this case. I know from past experience that the Police will be required to carry out a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of this elderly lady and report their findings to the Coroner. Their report will no doubt include an analysis of what happened regarding the 911 call and the Police will make specific recommendations to improve the system wherever possible.
Re the comments of ‘Elderly & Children Sufferin in Bermy’ I appreciate your concern but at this point we have no idea if the lady had any family or friends here in Bermuda who could have provided caregiving, or what was the state of her health prior to this tragedy. Let’s not rush to judgement.
I have one question. 911 do you have caller ID. Once a call comes in it should show the phone number of the person calling. With every phone number has a address weather it be a cell phome or land line. How hard is it to get an address from a phone number.