Kansas City expected to pay family $4 million in wrongful death lawsuit regarding 911 phone call

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Kansas City and the Kansas City Police Department will pay a Prairie Village, Kansas, man $4.124 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit over the death of his wife five years ago. That settlement is expected to be officially approved by the Finance Committee on Thursday.

The lawsuit says delays and failures by call takers during a 911 call led to the death of 41-year-old Cathryn McClelland. The settlement also initiates changes within the 911 system.

Cathryn was 41 years old when she collapsed one morning inside her Prairie Village home. Her husband was on a construction project in Iowa. She was home alone with her two young children. She died four days after the 911 call.

“It has been a long, 4-year battle to find justice for this family,” said Brian McCallister, the family’s attorney. (Cathryn) died because call-takers failed to do what they should have been trained to do. The 911 system in Kansas City failed Cathryn and her family. "

Confusion from the start

When Cathryn collapsed, her son, Joel, called 911. But the call went to Kansas City. There was confusion over the address. Call takers did not trust the child knew his address.

KCTV5 obtained the recording for help when first reporting on the case a few years ago.

It began with 8-year-old Joel explaining the situation.

JOEL: OK, so I’m only a child with my little sister and my mom is lying on the ground and my dad is out of town

KCPD: Do you know your address?

JOEL: Let me go outside. Prairie Village, Belinder Avenue.

The boy gives one address, but quickly realizes his mistake and provides the correct address. That is one minute and ten seconds into the call.

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It appears that the call taker is still unsure. The mapping software shows the call is coming from another location within walking distance of where the child says he is. A decision is made to call an adult—Frank McClennen on the job in Iowa.

KCPD: This is the Kansas City Missouri Police Department...who am I speaking to?

FRANK: Frank McClelland.

Frank gives the address again. It’s the same as what the child gave them.

KCPD: You say that’s Prairie Village, Kansas?

FRANK: Yes. What’s wrong?

KCPD: I don’t know. He said his mom fell down on the ground. She is laying there she is not awake. We’ve got him on the line we just needed to verify the address.

Frank: Oh, Jesus!

That’s at five and a half minutes into the call.

KCPD and KCFD discuss where to direct the call. At nine and a half minutes, Prairie Village Police were called. But it takes almost 13 minutes before an ambulance is dispatched to the home.

‘He’s my hero’

“When I listened to the call, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” Frank McClelland told us in a previous interview. “My son had called and within a short amount of time he provided information to get help to his mother.”

“He was doing everything he could to convince them,” said Frank. “He was calm. He was articulate. I’ve told him since that time -- he’s my hero.”

Medical records show the young mother suffered cardiac arrest. Cathryn’s heart rhythm was restored but she suffered a lack of lack of oxygen to the brain. She was removed from life support and became an organ donor.

Cathryn’s Code

Part of the settlement requires the city to adopt a new policy called “Cathryn’s Code.” It requires that a minimum of 50 recorded 911 calls be randomly pulled each month and analyzed for quality assurance.

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“Frank McClelland believed this was an integral part of his settlement with the Kansas City, Missouri Board of Police Commissioners so the Kansas City community would be a safer place to live,” said McCallister. “With this required part of the settlement, the McClelland family will know that from Cathryn’s death, some good can come of the McClelland family’s loss.”

KCTV5 Investigates reached out to other local departments regarding whether they had quality control programs in place. While those local departments did not respond, the St. Louis Police Department did. It has an established quality assurance program and last year reviewed an average of more than 40 calls each month.

911 Staffing Problems

911 staffing has been a continual issue for Kansas City. A lack of call takers and dispatchers means longer hold times for people needing help in emergencies.

People in Kansas City waited an average of 52 seconds in July.

Mayor Quinton Lucas has called hold times an emergency. He has proposed merging police and fire department call centers or possibly automating calls where people could select what they need- fire, police or ambulance.

The family’s attorney says Kansas City’s 911 system failed Cathryn and her family.

“The first call-taker hadn’t even finished her training and lacked the “Basic 40″ training done by MARC, training she didn’t take until weeks after Cathryn had died. How is a call-taker allowed to take emergency calls without having completed the “Basic 40″ training?” questioned McCallister.

KCTV5 asked KCPD about the call taker who took that call. She is no longer with the Communications Unit. She left two years after this incident.

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