“As a 911 caller calling for help, Kyle did everything right.

So why did help not reach him in time?”

tion about his location at Sev- family,” says Ron Plush. safer place than in 2018,” says far beyond Cincinnati. “This
en Hills School and his vehicle In 2021, Ron and Jill reached ECC Director Bill Vedra, part was a nationwide incident that
model—have failed to save a settlement in their wrong- of a new management team affected everyone,” says Andrew
Kyle’s life? ful death lawsuit against the brought in after the tragedy. Knapp, director of communica-
The first emergency call city of Cincinnati that estab- “We are on this path of contin- tions for the Hamilton County
taker never conveyed the ur- lished a team of 911 experts uous improvement, looking at Communications Center, a
gency of the call—the banging to work with the city’s Emer- how we can be the best 911 cen- multi-jurisdictional agency
sounds and the caller’s plea, gency Communications Center ter we can be, and I absolutely that does not include Cincin-
“I’m going to die soon!” Two (ECC) over a five-year period to believe that Kyle was a catalyst nati. “Everyone has heard of
police officers dispatched to the reform its 911 system. “I wish for that.” an Amber Alert. In much the
scene spent 11 minutes cruis- this had never happened, but Local 911 officials say the
ing school parking lots without I do think that Cincinnati is a tragedy’s impact has extended C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 9 7
stepping out of their vehicle or
checking the address that had
been provided for them, 12
parking spots away from the
DOING BETTER Andrew Knapp, photographed at the Hamilton County
Communications Center on November 30, 2022, says he and other emergency
family van. professionals are “inspired to do better” every day by the Plushes’ story.
The second call-taker, re-
ceiving no response from the
victim, activated the TTY
function for deaf callers. She
never played back the message
in which Kyle provided more
specific information about his
vehicle (a gold Honda Odyssey)
and never told the officers, who
were still on the scene, that a
second call for help had been
placed. “I probably don’t have
much time left,” Kyle said in
that call, “so tell my mom that I
love her if I die.”
His plea touched hearts
around the world. But in the
moments that might have mat-
tered, nobody listened.

yle Plush’s

K tragic death
grabbed national
and international headlines.
But the most profound part of
the story may well have hap-
pened after the news trucks
left. It’s the story of parents
who have channeled their grief
into a fierce drive to prevent
future tragedies. “We wanted
to find out what happened so
it doesn’t happen to another