She Heard Taps and Figured Out a Code : Dispatcher Made Good Guess on 911 Call

It was 4:30 a.m. when Garden Grove police dispatcher Sheryl Wynn answered the 911 call and heard the tapping noises.

Crank calls on the 911 line aren’t uncommon. Callers who dial and hang up aren’t uncommon either. Wynn decided to treat this call as neither.

Tapping back, Wynn, 39, “established that two taps was for yes, and one was for no,” she said Wednesday. “I asked her, ‘Have you had a heart attack? Or a stroke? She tapped one for the heart attack and twice for the stroke, which was yes.”

Within a few moments, Wynn had established her communication system with Lisa Quick, 49, of Garden Grove, who had, in fact, suffered a minor stroke.

Wynn immediately dispatched police and paramedics to Quick’s apartment in a large complex on Euclid Avenue, Police Sgt. Douglas Morrill said. Although the front door was locked, Wynn directed paramedics to a front window after being informed by Quick that it had been left open.

Wynn is being considered for a commendation for her actions last Thursday, officials said Wednesday.

“It’s fantastic that she would be creative and think of that,” said Capt. John Baker. “Lord knows we get enough of what we call the 911 hang-up calls. It is easy to get cynical and hang up, but she didn’t.”

In fact, Morrill said police receive so many “crank” calls on the emergency line that he praised Wynn for “staying with it.”

Quick was taken to UCI Medical Center where she was treated and eventually released.

Wynn said she always assumes that the caller isn’t a crank.

“Over the years, I learned to take the worst scenario I can and put that into action. If it turns out not to be that, then no big deal, I’m not really put out by it all. If it is, well, I’d hate to treat something like a crank or a bogus call and then have somebody hurt or sick who was trying to call.”