911 Call As Woman Drowned: Don't Know Why You're 'Freaking Out'

FORT SMITH, AR — As a woman in Arkansas delivering papers for a local newspaper sat in her car that was becoming overcome by floodwaters, a 911 dispatcher whom she rang for help told her the incident would teach her not to drive in the water and said she didn't know why the woman was "freaking out" in a call that police described as "calloused and uncaring at times."

The woman, identified as 47-year-old Debra Stevens, drowned last week after swift waters washed her car off the road, settling it in between a copse of trees and she was unable to leave the vehicle, police in Fort Smith Arkansas said.

Police this week released the audio of the 911 call between Stevens and the dispatcher. In a statement, police said that despite the operator's tone, sincere efforts were being made to locate and rescue Stevens. At the time that floodwaters inundated Stevens' car, rescue officials were responding to several other flood-related calls.

Stevens first called her friend but as the floodwaters continued to rise around her, she called 911. Police said they received the call at 4:38 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24.

According to The Southwest Times Record, which published excerpts from the call, about three-and-a-half minutes into the call, Stevens asked the female dispatcher how long it would take officers to reach her and the dispatcher responded that it would "take a minute" because she didn't have an officer available.

At the eight minute mark, when Stevens says no one is helping her, the dispatcher responds, "Am I not on the phone with you trying to get you some help?"

When Stevens expresses fear that she is going to die, the dispatcher says she is not going to die and she doesn't understand why she is "freaking out," according to the published excerpts.

At one point, according to the excerpts, in response to Stevens sayind she is scared, the dispatcher says the incident would teach her not to drive in the water next time.

"I’m sorry ma’am, I didn’t see it," Stevens says, according to the Times Record.

"I don’t see how you didn’t see it," the dispatcher responds. "You had to go right over it."

Later into the call, the dispatcher tells Stevens, who is described in the excerpts as "frantic," that she is going to have to shut up and listen to her. She asks Stevens to honk her horn so that first responders can find her but Stevens says her horn is dead.

As the water gets higher and higher, Stevens says her car is moving and that she can't breathe until finally she sounds like she is under water. The entire 911 call went on for just over 23 minutes.

"The 911 operator who took the call dispatched Fort Smith Fire and Police units who were inundated with 911 calls from other citizens also stranded in flood waters," police said in a statement. "Also exacerbating response and rescue efforts were the facts that Mrs. Stevens was having trouble describing her exact location and flooding limited the ability of first responders to reach her."

When first responders finally located the car, the swift waters made the rescue impossible, police said.

According to a timeline of events released by police, after the call at 4:38 a.m., fire officials were dispatched just before 4:42 a.m. and a police unit was dispatched at 4:45 after clearing a previous call. After the call between Stevens and the dispatcher gets cut at 5 a.m., rescue officials finally locate the car at 5:02 a.m. but can't reach it because of the flooding situation. Finally, rescue officials were able to get to the car at 5:58 a.m.

When Stevens was removed from the car, she had died.

"I am heartbroken for this tragic loss of life and my prayers are with Debra’s family and friends," Fort Smith Police Chief Danny Baker said in a statement. "All of our first responders who attempted to save Mrs. Stevens are distraught over the outcome. For every one of us, saving lives is at the very core of who we are and why we do what we do. When we are unsuccessful, it hurts."

According to the Times Record, police have launched an internal investigation into departmental policies. The dispatcher had submitted her resignation earlier and it was her final day on the job, the paper reported.

The police chief, Danny Baker, said he didn't observe anything on the call that would warrant termination or a criminal investigation, according to the Times Record.

>>>Read the full story via The Southwest Times Record.