A mother blames the death of her six-month-old baby son on the “ghost calls” which took over the Dallas 911 emergency dispatch system on Saturday. The babysitter told the mother that she tried to dial 911 as soon as it was apparent that little Brandon Alex needed urgent medical care, but got no reply. The babysitter reportedly made multiple calls to 911, without success. City officials in Dallas have confirmed that the babysitter was using a T-Mobile device in her attempts to contact emergency dispatchers and are now investigating to establish whether the mobile phone issue led to the baby’s death on Saturday.

According to city officials, 911 operators did attempt to return each of the calls, but could not get through to the babysitter. Officials also stated that since November last year, as some T-Mobile users dial 911 from their phones, they are simultaneously making multiple other calls, which clogs up the emergency response system.

Officials added that no other cellphone carriers are experiencing the issue. However reportedly AT&T customers also reported problems contacting 911 in Dallas and several other cities in Texas back on March 8. At that time, police departments posted other emergency numbers to dial and AT&T later tweeted they had resolved the issue.

Dallas mother rushes home to her baby

Bridget Alex tearfully told CNN affiliate KTVT that her son Brandon was only six months old and that it “wasn’t his time.” She went on to explain how she asked the babysitter if they had called 911, to which they replied that they had tried on multiple occasions, without any success. The baby’s mother said she was attending a funeral when her son’s babysitter called her with the bad news that Brandon had had a fall and was unconscious, going on to explain that 911 was not responding.

Speaking to KTVT, Alex addressed the emergency dispatch department direct, asking them why they didn’t respond.

Alex said after receiving the babysitter’s call, she rushed home and then had to take her son to hospital, meaning that Brandon received medical care more than an hour after the babysitter first dialed 911.

Brandon was then transferred to another Dallas-area hospital where he was pronounced dead. According to the Collin County medical examiner’s office, the cause of death is still undetermined.

T-Mobile is planning to work on the issue

According to city officials, John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, spoke with T.C. Broadnax, the Dallas City manager, on Tuesday and told him crews are planning to work with the city to resolve the issue. Officials added that during the time of the babysitter’s calls, 911 operators had received a surge in calls. Reportedly at one stage, more than 400 calls came in, making it necessary for the department to bring in 10 additional operators.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said in a statement that it is outrageous that T-Mobile has not yet resolved the “ghost call” issue, saying it is putting Dallas residents in danger by clogging the emergency response system.

Second death related to T-Mobile 'ghost calls'

According to the Dallas News, this is the second death this month related to the T-Mobile “ghost call” issue. 52-year-old Brian Cross died on March 6 after his husband, David Taffet, was unable to get through to an emergency dispatcher. Reportedly in Taffet's case his initial call was answered, but he was disconnected. When he tried to phone again, he was put on hold. It reportedly took another 20 minutes for Taffet to get through to an operator. While Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedics were quickly on the scene, and took Cross directly to the hospital, within around an hour he was dead.
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