An Ohio woman is facing scorn, scrutiny and possibly charges after lying about her sister having Ebola-like symptoms to get a quicker response from medical personnel.
The Columbus woman, whose name has not yet been released, called 911 on Thursday to report that her sister had a high fever and added that she had recently traveled to Africa.
“I’m scared. I think my sister has Ebola. Her fever is 107, and she’s really, really hot,” the woman said.
Police and paramedics responded immediately, clad in hazmat suits, and prepared the woman to be moved into isolation and roped off the house with crime scene tape.
But once at the hospital, it was revealed that the woman did not, in fact, have symptoms consistent with Ebola, nor had she traveled to western Africa in the last 21 days.
The false call was a drain on first responders, Jose Rodriguez of Columbus Public Health told the Columbus Dispatch.
“We are trying to protect the community, and a hoax really wasted our resources,” he said.
You can listen to the woman’s 911 call here.
This article appears in Oct 22-28, 2014.
Charges should be filed. Or, if she’d rather, she can pay what it cost to send those special paramedics to her house and reimburse them for their time. Take your pick.
This is what happens when leaders create panic. The crazy comes out in force.
People are so selfish and stupid.
Is it even possible to have a 107 degree fever? That alone should prompt a 911 call. I am sure she was worried for her sister given that. It’s sad what media has caused in the world.