As He Lay Dying

When Jim Wagner suffered a heart attack, his friends immediately called 911. And called. And called. Memphis emergency dispatchers repeatedly sent ambulances to the wrong address despite being given the correct address three times. Dispatchers didn't ask for directions and declined a caller's offer to stay on the line to guide an ambulance. Meanwhile, emergency crews in nearby Bartlett, whose jurisdiction ends one block short of the pool hall where Wagner fell ill, refused multiple requests from Memphis officials for help. Officially, it took 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, but Wagner's friends say it took much longer.