A single keystroke error by a 911 dispatcher sent paramedics to the wrong address last week, the head of Allegheny County's Emergency Services said Wednesday.

Chief Bob Full said the mistake resulted in an approximately seven-minute delay on Friday morning for emergency crews arriving at an apartment building on Crucible Street where a mother had reported her baby had stopped breathing.

The baby later was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital.

The Allegheny County medical examiner's office identified the baby as Jordyn Anderson. The cause of the infant's death remains under investigation.

The dispatcher who answered the call was placed on unpaid leave starting Monday afternoon, Chief Full said.

The unidentified woman had worked as a dispatcher, or telecommunications officer, for the city since 2001 and joined the county's 911 staff in 2005.

The county uses a computer-aided dispatch system supplied by Tiburon Inc. The dispatcher had typed the correct street address on Crucible Street for the call, Chief Full said. When she went back to modify the address by including an apartment number, she mistakenly typed the "@" symbol rather than the "#" symbol, he said. The two keys are next to each other. Because of a glitch in the computer program, that small error resulted in the address being changed from "Crucible Street" to "Crane Avenue."

"We are not standing here trying to blame a machine [for the error]," Chief Full said. "I believe [the dispatcher] had an opportunity to catch it one more time." He said he was not aware of any other call takers making similar computer-linked errors in providing addresses to first-responders.

Dispatchers are represented by Local 668 of the Service Employees International Union. Steven Wells, chief shop steward for Allegheny County 911 employees, said Wednesday that his union will cooperate in an investigation of the tragedy. But he was critical of the county's decision to suspend the employee while the probe was just getting under way.

He called the county's reaction "premature and unwarranted."

The unidentified dispatcher is seeking counseling. "The call taker wanted to express that [her] thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the deceased," Mr. Wells said.

Pittsburgh paramedics, police and fire fighters did an outstanding job in responding to the call and providing emergency treatment when they arrived at the scene, Chief Full said. He also expressed sorrow for the error and offered prayers and sympathy to the family.

The 911 call center received the call at 6:12 a.m. Friday "from a frantic mother who said her baby was not breathing," Chief Full said.

A full emergency crew was sent out at 6:15 a.m. When first responders arrived on Crane Avenue at 6:20, they discovered that the apartment number they had been given did not exist.

They were redirected to Crucible Street, about a mile away, at 6:22 and arrived at 6:27.

A review of 911 tapes indicated that the dispatcher was "sympathetic and polite," Chief Full said. "The call taker kept the mom on the phone, and gave her advice on [administering] CPR," he said.

Telecommunications officers received 1.3 million calls in 2009 and more than 550,000 so far this year, Chief Full said.

The county's 240 dispatchers know that "they are constantly under a microscope and they have no room for error," he said.

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