If there’s one phone call you expect will be answered it’s when you dial 911. But early in the morning on October 6th the phone rang and rang at Mills County, Iowa 911 and nobody answered when Joni Jacobsen’s daughter called.

Joni had been short of breath and felt like passing out. Joni says her daughter Kellie told her, “Nobody answered. I said huh, nobody answers 911?”

Joni’s son in law called a Qwest operator that connected him to Pottawattamie County 911 in Council Bluffs about 21 miles away.

The tape of the conversation has the son in law asking a Pottawattamie county 911 operator, “You have anyway of helping me connect with 911 in Glenwood? They’re not answering the phone.”

Dispatchers in Council Bluffs tried to call, radio and teletype the Mills County 911 center but nobody responded.

Finally a Pottawattamie County 911 supervisor tried one last call before dispatching an ambulance from Council Bluffs.

This time a female 911 operator in Mills County answered. The tape says, “Mills county 911.” The Pottawattamie county 911 supervisor responds, “Well hello. We’ve been having trouble getting a hold of you there. We’ve got a medical to send you.”

Mills County Communications Director Tom Ling says only one 911 operator is on duty that early in the morning. Ling says the operator that morning has been fired.

Due to an internal investigation he can’t say if the operater had abandoned her post and if so where she had been.

Ling calls it an isolated incident. He says from the first answered call to the dispatch of a rescue squad was about 35 minutes. However Joni Jacobsen’s daughter tells Six On Your Side it was more like an hour and 20 minutes.

Glenwood’s fire chief says his crew arrived at Jacobsen’s home within four minutes of getting the page from 911.

The issue is why it took the 911 operator so long to answer.