ATLANTA — As an Atlanta family mourns the loss of their baby girl, they're demanding change from city leaders.
The couple appeared before those city leaders Monday, asking for support to create an emergency infant hotline exclusively for parents of infants who are in distress, after living through their own terrible experience.
“I woke up in hell that day, and it hasn’t been the same since," Erik Burns told 11Alive.
On March 8, Burnes and his wife Brittany said they discovered their 3-month-old wasn't breathing. Erik said he immediately called 911, but when he thought he got an automated response, he hung up.
Call records from the Atlanta Police Department's E911 Communications Center and audio recordings show that a dispatcher answered the incoming call at 8:38 a.m. almost immediately, but the call was disconnected by the caller after five seconds.
Erik said he called back again, and records and audio show it was answered, but that call was also disconnected by the caller after six seconds. Records showed that a dispatcher tried to call back both times, but there was no answer.
A third call -- still within the same minute -- was placed and immediately answered. In that call, Erik was able to speak to a dispatcher who answered the line, but the couple believes what happened contributed to a delay in getting EMS to the scene.
Baby Khari Burns was ultimately pronounced dead due to (SUID) Sudden Unexpected Infant Death.
11Alive asked Atlanta police about how 911 calls are answered what callers should do in situations where seconds matter, and they stressed the most important piece of advice is for callers to stay on the line until a call is answered. The department added that the average time for a dispatcher to answer, from Jan. 1 through April 22, is roughly 16 seconds.
Meanwhile, as the Burns family continues to mourn the loss of their daughter, they're asking city leaders to help them change their pain into purpose.
“No parent should ever go through this again," Brittany said.
In addition to calling for the dedicated line for infants, she and Erik asked for leaders to support an initiative to make infant CPR kits free and widely available to the public to be better equipped to help in an emergency.
“I don’t know what Khari would’ve became. I just knew she was going to be a changemaker," Brittany said.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional context on response times for this incident and average answer times for calls to 911.
