US emergency worker resigns for hanging up on 911 caller

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33710607

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A 911 dispatcher in the US has resigned after telling a frantic caller who was trying to save the life of a shooting victim to "deal with it yourself".

Matthew Sanchez was reassigned after the incident in New Mexico on 23 June, but quit on Tuesday after a recording of the call was released.

He was dealing with a friend of Jaydon Chavez-Silver, 17, who had been shot in a drive-by shooting in Albuquerque.

Officials said an ambulance was sent to the scene but Chavez-Silver later died.

In the recording the panicked caller, 17-year-old Esperanza Quintero, is heard swearing at Sanchez after he repeatedly asks whether Chavez-Silver is breathing.

'My friend is dying'

During the call, Mr Sanchez asks the young woman if Chavez-Silver is breathing, to which she replies: "Barely!"

She is then heard encouraging her friend before Mr Sanchez asks the same question again.

An exasperated Ms Quintero responds using an expletive to which Mr Sanchez says: "OK, you know what ma'am? You can deal with it yourself. I am not going to deal with this, OK?"

From the tape it appears that Mr Sanchez hangs up as the caller says: "No, my friend is dying".

Earlier this week, Ms Quintero told the local KOAT-TV network: "It was his job. I don't understand why he would have hung up."

A statement released on Tuesday evening from the office of Albuquerque's chief administrative officer said Mr Sanchez has resigned from the local fire department.

He had worked there for 10 years, originally as a firefighter. He had been assigned to the emergency dispatch centre for nearly three and a half years, officials said.

Albuquerque police have made no arrests over Chavez-Silver's death and have not named any suspects.