Cooperative Living September 2021 - 15

CoverFocus | by Laura Emery, Staff Writer
Forty-seven Minutes
How a Brunswick County woman turned grief into grit
after an emergency response system failed her husband
Lake Gaston
F
orty-seven excruciatingly
long minutes forever changed
one Brunswick County, Va.,
woman's life. Now, she's committed
to changing the lives of others.
AAugust 27, 2018, starte
ugust 27, 2018, started off like
aany other day in the Herzin
hhis usual kiss on her cheek
hhe slipped out of the house
work on
A
neighbor' deck.
As she waited for her hi
sweethear to eturn to the
Gaston home, she enjoyed
ny other day in the Herzing home.
Except that Bob Herzing,
husband of 43 years, didn't
Except that Bob Herzing, Sherry's
h
usband of 43 years, didn't plant
is usual kiss on her cheek before
e slipped out of the house to help
work on a neighbor's deck
s she waited for her high school
sweetheart to return to their Lake
G
aston home, she enjoyed the
ccompany of their 4-year-ol
A little after noon, the p
TThe voice was familiar and
"" Bob is passed out, " the ca
ompany of their 4-year-old grandson,
Grayson, who had stayed
Grayson, who had stayed with the
couple that weekend.
little after noon, the phone rang.
he voice was familiar and frantic.
Bob is passed out, " the caller told
Sherry explaining that Bob
tto lunch when he suddenly
very minute mattered as a
panicked Sherry handed
to a helpful neighbor and r
to be by her husband' side
was outed to
instructedi
to be by her husband's side.
"
nneighbor called 911, but th
the neighbor to
of Brunswick Coun
helpful neighbor and ushed
" After he collapsed, ano
was routed to Warren Cou
After he collapsed, another
eighbor called 911, but the call
arren County, N.C.,
insteadinstead of Brunswick County, Va., "
she ecalls. The call center
nstructed the neighbor to call a
110-digit phone number to
0-digit phone number to connect
co-opliving.com
she recalls. The call center operator
Sherry, explaining that Bob was heading
o lunch when he suddenly collapsed.
EEvery minute mattered
panicked Sherry handed her grandson
to
with Brunswick County's emergency
call center. But the neighbor had
nothing to write on.
Meanwhile, other neighbors took
turns administering CPR to Bob.
A second forwarding failed; the
call went not to the Brunswick center,
but to South Hill, 15 miles away.
Twenty-three precious minutes elapsed
before EMTs in Brunswick County
were alerted; it took another 24
minutes for them to arrive at the site,
where Bob had suffered a heart attack.
Forty-seven minutes. Bob died
later that day.
A PROBLEM AT LARGE
What came next was " not a Sherry
thing, but a God thing, " according
to Sherry, a St. Louis, Mo., native.
In the midst of overwhelming
grief and confusion, she found a
new purpose. " I didn't want to lose
any more lives due to what happened
to my husband ... a series of mishaps
within the 911 response system
that had happened before. "
Grief turned to grit. Sherry's
path merged with those of Brunswick
County Sheriff Brian K. Roberts and
Devon Clary, director of emergency
communications at the Brunswick
County Sheriff's Office.
" I quickly became aware of the
fact that they weren't able to fix
the problem by themselves. But I
had no idea what I was getting myself
into, so I asked God to lead me, "
Sherry explains.
And, according to Sherry, God
did just that.
She would learn that 80% of 911
calls come from cellphones, which are
notoriously inaccurate in providing
GPS location information. Cellphone
towers do not recognize county
boundaries, instead sending the call
to whichever county is closest to
the side of the tower that receives
the ping. Further complicating the
problem is the fact that Lake Gaston
spans 36 miles and runs through
five counties and two states.
Roberts made 24 test 911 calls from
all over Brunswick County. Of those,
only four went to the Brunswick call
(continued on page 14)
September 2021 | Cooperative Living | 13
PHOTO COURTESY WIKIPEDIA
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living September 2021

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