Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra Friday demanded changes after a review of an incident in which a woman's body was left rotting in a home for 90 days.
In May 2011, the body of a woman remained in her Goodwin Street home for three months after emergency crews were called to check on her.
According to a report by Segarra's office, a neighbor called 911 asking police to do a welfare check on the woman because she hadn't been seen for some time. When police showed up, a dispatcher told officers emergency crews had been to the house a day earlier because the woman had died, and that her body had been taken out of the home. The dispatcher misread an instruction, and sent the police officers away, according to the report. Firefighters responding to the home were also turned away.
It was three months before the woman's body was finally discovered.
Hartford Fire Chief Edward Cesares has made serious changes to Fire Department protocol in the wake of the incident.
"We are going to continue our response to the location to verify and validate," Cesares said.
The dispatcher responsible for the error was given a written reprimand.
