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That's not professional. I know we have a 911 professional somewhere among the members who can probably do better, but I have had an all-day orientation in how a 911 call center works (they were recruiting). I am pretty sure that she was violating all sorts of protocols.
Basically when a call is made, you don't consider it finished until you are _absolutely_ sure there is no problem according to standard procedures. For example, if you call 911 around here and then hang up, they'll ring you back. And if you don't answer, they'll send the cops.
The 911 profession actually has a variety of standard scripts that operators are supposed to use in emergency situations; if somebody calls and declares an emergency, you pull out the appropriate script, which is actually a tree of questions, possible responses, and follow-up questions and directions. The center I interviewed with bought their scripts from a third-party expert/consultant who guaranteed that his scripted responses were bullet-proof and lawsuit-proof in any situation. And if you were sued for negligence, he'd bring his team and testify for you in court -- as long as you followed the script precisely. They _never_ had any problem.
Either this woman was 'way off script, or pooly trained, or that outfit just doesn't have any scripts or hard and fast standards. She should be suspended immediately, of course, but the agency involved is probably afraid to come down heavy on her in public lest they be sued. And they should be sued, and probably will be sued.
So my answer is, she should be suspended, and the investigation should extend far beyond her to the entire organization and its practices.
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