Couple Overcome By Carbon Monoxide Rescued

BOSTON -- A Waltham, Mass., couple overcome by carbon monoxide fumes, was rescued after making a frantic 911 call from a cell phone, officials said Wednesday.

Helen and Bob Roy were mostly incoherent when they called for help while they were working at their welding shop. EMTs initially searched near a Wilson Road cell phone tower, because wireless phones only provide emergency workers with the nearest carrier.

Helen Roy was able to dial the phone for help, but could barely speak.

"OK ma'am. What's the problem?" the dispatcher said.

"I don't even talk. I can't talk," Helen Roy said.

"OK, you have to give me your address. Where are you?" the dispatcher said.

"I'm inside the shop," Helen Roy said. "I can't even talk. I'm sorry. I can't talk."

The dispatcher asked her to get her husband, who could barely move. Bob Roy was able to tell the dispatcher where they were.

"Hi. Where are you?" the dispatcher said.

"Who's this?" Bob Roy asked.

"It's Carol. Where are you?" the dispatcher said.

"I'm at 101 Clematis Ave.," Bob Roy said.

The Roys were recovering at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"There was no end to it. No matter what, I couldn't make heads or tails of what I was doing," Bob Roy said late Wednesday afternoon from his hospital. "I figure that we were passed out from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. We were laying on the ground by ourselves for that long period of time without even knowing it. I kept waking up off the floor."

He said that the fumes came from a propane forklift he was using.

When calls come into a 911 dispatch center, it can sometimes be difficult for a dispatcher to get the crucial information that can save the caller.

NewsCenter 5's David Boeri reported that in Tuesday's situation in Waltham, persistence finally paid off.

"I just didn't know what they were going to find when the crew showed up," 911 dispatcher Carol Condon said. "I knew that there were two people who were desperate for help. I didn't know what brought them to that point."

It was 2:30 a.m., and Condon, a 10-year veteran, was working the midnight shift. With enhanced 911, dispatchers know what the address is automatically, but not with cell phones, and though they knew the Roys were within range of a certain cell tower, Condon and dispatcher Julie Ricci had no idea where.

"We talk to drunk people all the time on 911. But, this was different. You could tell that they needed help as soon as we could get them help."

It was 10 minutes into the phone call before Bob Roy was able to give the address of where the Roys were.