When Solon firefighters got a call for a 4-year-old male who was unable to breathe, they sprung into action. What they didn't realize was the 4-year-old male wasn't a child, he was a pot-bellied pig. On April 24, a woman called 911 stating a 4-year-old was breathing shallowly and may have choked on a marshmallow. According to police reports, the dispatcher refers to the victim several times as a "child", but at no time did the caller correct the dispatcher or attempt to explain that it was a pig in distress.
Rescuers say they went there prepared to deal with a choking child, and were shocked to find a completely different scenario. "We arrived and we're ready, a four-year-old child not breathing we're ready to go and we walk in the door it wasn't a child. It was a family pet pig apparently," Solon Battalion Chief Steve Nash said.
Nash had several crews at the scene and Lifeflight on standby because they thought there was a child in distress. Nash says he felt a number of emotions at the moment. "First was 'thank goodness, it wasn't a child,' second was 'seriously? We were called for a pet pig that wasn't breathing?' Third we had to get crews back in service because it wasn't a human emergency," Nash said.
If dispatchers had known it wasn't a human emergency, they could have responded with fewer crews. Firefighters say they don't want people to be afraid to call 911, but they ask that callers give all of the details including whether the patient is a person or a pet. The Solon city prosecutor is looking at the case to determine if charges should be filed.
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