Teen Trapped In Car Calls 911 For Help & Dispatch Failures Cost Him His Life: Kyle Plush’s Story

Kyle Plush became trapped in his family's 2004 Honda Odyssey when a dislodged third-row bench seat sprung backward, pinning him upside down with 80 pounds of pressure on his chest. His existing physical disability prevented him from freeing himself.

The van's third-row seat became dislodged and automatically sprung backward, forcing Kyle head first into the trunk space where the seat would typically be stored, meaning that Kyle was stuck upside down with his torso pinned between the floor and the back row seat. The seat was exerting 80 lb of pressure on his chest. Because of some of the physical disabilities he had, he wasn't able to push himself up to get free.

Kyle's first 911 call at 3:16 p.m. was handled by dispatcher Stephanie, who reported difficulty hearing him. She misclassified the call as 'unknown trouble' instead of 'rescue,' delaying fire department dispatch. Crucially, she failed to relay Kyle's explicit statements of being trapped and 'going to die soon,' or the banging sounds, to responding officers. She also incorrectly told officers to look for a 'woman' despite Kyle's voicemail identifying him as a boy.

Stephanie later reported that she couldn't really hear Kyle during his call... One of these call takers told Stephanie that the call was from a woman who said that she was stuck inside of her van... Kyle's voicemail explicitly shared his name... That information was never disclosed to the officers on scene... She waited 7 minutes to put any information into the computer aided dispatch system... Stephanie classified this call as unknown trouble instead of rescue... Stephanie also didn't tell the officers about Kyle's screams for help or the sounds of banging coming from inside the car.

Two Cincinnati police officers arrived at 3:26 p.m. but failed to locate Kyle. Their body cam footage showed they never exited their car, rolled down windows, or turned off music to listen for screams. They searched only the south end of the parking lot, driving past Kyle's car in the north end, despite being given the correct address based on his cell phone coordinates.

At 3:26 p.m., two Cincinnati police officers arrived at 7 Hills... they never got out of the car, and they were also never seen rolling down their windows or even turning off their music... they searched all the nearby lots except for the north end of the lot that he was in. They only searched the south end... they can literally be seen from a traffic camera driving right past Kyle's car... Stephanie had given them an address based on Kyle's cell phone coordinates. And that address was 5471 Red Bank Road, otherwise known as a sophomore parking lot at 7 Hills, exactly where Kyle said he was in his call.

Kyle made a second, more urgent 911 call at 3:35 p.m., providing specific details about his 'gold Honda Odyssey.' Dispatcher Amber enabled the TTY function, which reduced audio levels by 75%, making it impossible to hear Kyle. She failed to turn it off or listen to the clear recorded audio. She also did not enter the call details into the CAD system, claiming her terminal froze, and failed to inform officers that Kyle was a repeat caller with specific vehicle information.

He called 911 for a second time at 3:35 p.m... Kyle provides them with very specific information about the type of van that he was in. He mentions again that he was in the sophomore parking lot of Seven Hills and includes that he's in a gold Honda Odyssey... Amber enables what is called the TTY function... it reduces the audio levels by 75%... she never turned this function back off... she also didn't go back and listen to the recorded version of the call... she said that her terminal froze. Yet, when the system was back up and running, she didn't try again... she didn't inform anyone that this call came in.

Kyle's father, Ron Plush, found him over six hours after his first 911 call by tracking his phone with the Life 360 app. Emergency services arrived too late. Kyle died from mechanical asphyxiation, and his death was ruled accidental but entirely preventable.

Kyle's father was actually the one to find him... They had actually used the Life 360 app to successfully track his location... It took over six hours from the time that he had placed his first 911 call for emergency services to arrive on scene... 16-year-old Kyle Plush died due to mechanical esphyxiation as a result of the 80 lb seat compressing his lungs and his manner of death was ruled accidental.

After learning about the 911 failures, Kyle's parents, Ron and Jill Plush, became dedicated to reforming emergency services. They filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, seeking only $25,000 to uncover problems and find solutions. This resulted in a $6 million settlement and a court-supervised agreement for comprehensive reforms, including a five-year expert team to improve training, quality assurance, and protocols for Cincinnati's 911 system.

Both Kyle's parents have made it really their sole mission to figure out what failures led to his death and make sure that it never happens to anyone again... they decided to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city... they were only suing for $25,000. For them, it was only really about uncovering problems and finding solutions... in April of 2021, the plushes ended up reaching a $6 million settlement. For them, the real win, though, was the changes that were promised... an expert team, 911 experts from all over the country... will work with Bill Vidra, the ECC director, to make sure that enhancements and reforms take root in Cincinnati. We've got court supervision of this agreement. The agreement will last five years.

A month after Kyle's death, his mother, Jill, co-founded the 'Kyle Plush Answer the Call Foundation' to support 911 professionals and improve emergency communications. The foundation works to boost morale, educate the public on emergency phone features, and promote the free 'Smart 911' app, which allows users to pre-register critical personal and medical information for dispatchers.

They ended up creating the Kyle Plush Answer the Call Foundation, which seeks to support 911 professionals to ensure that they're performing their best... The foundation also established its own challenge coin... Ron, Jill, and other volunteers have also visited emergency call centers to share their experiences... Another thing they've focused on is they really want people to know and understand all the ways that cell phone technology can help you in an emergency... they also want more people to know about Smart 911... a free app and a website, smart911.com, that allows you to enter specific information about yourself, which dispatch workers can easily access during a 911 call.