Hotel staff refused to check whether Jani was still alive – but emergency operator wasn’t interested unless he was dead
Tragedy: Jani Lane
Hotel staff who found Jani Lane’s body refused to check to see if he was still alive, a recording of an emergency call has revealed.
And when the 911 operator passed on a dead body report to another department, the second operator wasn’t interested unless Lane was definitely dead.
The ex-Warrant singer was discovered in a California hotel room on August 11 with a bottle of vodka and prescription pills. He’d split from his wife a few weeks previously, and a note saying “I am Jani Lane” with a friend’s phone number was in his pocket.
Now TMZ has released a recording of the call placed by the hotel receptionist to emergency services.
Operator: What room number is the patient in?
Receptionist: Room 118.
Operator: Room 118. Are you there?
Receptionist: No, I’m calling from the lobby. I work at a the front desk.
Operator: Okay. So what’s the problem? Tell me exactly what happened.
Receptionist: Okay. The housekeeping, when they were about to clean the room, they knocked the room door three times and he didn’t open the door. They finally opened it and one of the housekeeping checked they guy, like, ‘Maybe he’d dead,’ because, his eyes…
Operator: Okay. Do you know about how old, approximately what age the patient is?
Receptionist: Maybe like 50.
Operator: Male or female?
Receptionist: Male.
Operator: So do you know if they’re conscious? You don’t know?
Receptionist: No. Because when we opened the door they didn’t go closer.
Operator: So you guys don’t know what’s going on there?
Receptionist: No, because ––
Operator: You have a defibrillator?
Receptionist: Uh…
Operator: A shock box for the heart. Do you guys have one?
Receptionist: No.
Operator: Okay. Paramedics are on the way, okay? Just stay on the line, I’ll tell you exactly what to do next. Does anybody there know CPR or first aid?
Receptionist: I – no…
Operator: Is there any way you can transfer me to the room? Is there anyone there that’s willing to go into the room and see if we can maybe do CPR? Or do you think the patent has already passed away?
Receptionist: I think passed away, because when they checked the guy, like, his eyes were open and his mouth, he wasn’t breathing.
Operator: Was there an odour? Was he stiff?
Receptionist: The guy? The room? Odour?
Operator: Was there an odour? Did it smell?
Receptionist: No. They didn’t really, like, go inside, so housekeeping think he’s dead.
Operator: Okay, well, tell you what ma’am, if somebody is willing to go there and go check it out, then give us a call, okay? We’re on our way. You don’t have to – but if this person needs help, if we need to do CPR, it would be nice to at least know if we could help him. If not, if he’s passed away, there’s nothing else we can do.
Receptionist: So you want us to go in the room and –
Operator: Well, it’s up to you ma’am. Are you, is someone willing to go in the room, or…?
Receptionist: I could ask. I mean, maybe like chargehand or…
Operator: Is he willing to do it? Is he willing to go in there?
Receptionist: I’ll ask him now.
Operator: I can’t force him to do it, but I’m asking if he’s willing to do it.
Receptionist: I’ll ask him.
Operator: Okay, I’ll be right here.
Receptionist: Okay, hold on.
Operator: Sure.
Receptionist: Other phone is going crazy when I call 911. I can’t stop it.
Operator: Is there any way to transfer me to that room? 118? Will somebody answer?
Receptionist: No. We’ll try.
Operator: Okay. Well, help’s already on the way, okay?
Receptionist: Okay, uh…
Operator: So are you gonna ask to see if he’ll go in there?
Receptionist: Yes, I’m going to call another line, Hold on.
[pause]
Operator: Hello?
Receptionist: Um… No, nobody wants to do it.
Operator: Okay, well that’s fine then ma’am. Help’s on the way, okay? We’re on our way.
Receptionist: Do you want me to wait, or…?
Operator: No, we’re on our way, okay? We can hang up. We’re on our way. If we can help you with anything else just call us back. Okay?
Receptionist: Okay, thank you.
Operator: Bye-bye.
[Operator places call to another operator and receives a brief holding message]
Voice: You have reached the Los Angeles Police Department. All operators are busy. The next available operator will ––
Operator 2: Emergency operator?
Operator: How are you doing, this is six-nine from across the way. We’ve got a possible DB.
Operator 2: Is it apparent natural?
Operator: We’re not sure yet. You know what, I’m kinda calling you a little premature. I was on the phone with somebody there and they stated they believe the person was passed away and we’re sending rescue to go investigate, uh, cardiac arrest. Nobody knows what’s going on, they guess the gentleman’s been there for a little bit and nobody wants to check on him. It’s about a fifty-year-old male, approximately.
[silence]
Operator: Not sure if it’s a DB natural. If you want I can call you back.
Operator 2: Wanna do that?
Operator: Sure.
I don’t think that 911 or the PD handled it wrong… the shame here is that no one at the hotel was willing to go check on the “possible DB” –now, truth is, once CPR is started if there is NO defibrillator, survival chance is only 5% –especially since they didn’t know how long he was down. The fact that they’re upset that the second call wasn’t interested unless he was dead –well… that is their job, there is nothing they can do until they get confirmation that the person is dead. And the 911 operator is correct, they can’t force anyone to go check on the patient.
WHAT is truly sad here is that he wanted to die and all he left in his pocket was a note saying who he was.
I tend to agree – it’s sad that anyone winds up a statistic in a police procedure, but it happens every day. You can’t expect people to expose themselves to emotionally difficult situations in their jobs without developing a hardened attitutude to it. We just wanted to flag the situation to people in the hope they will reflect on the value of their own lives and of those around them. (RND’s motto: “Life is about people.”)
The thing about the note is, it wasn’t written by Jani – it was written by a friend who, police say, had done the same thing in the past. They haven’t revealed any further details at the moment, although they don’t necessarily believe it’s suspicious
these ppl do not need to be running a hotel
[...] Read the transcript here. [...]
This is really sad… I hope they never get themselves in a situation like that, because karma is a b***h.
This receptionist comes across as a complete tool. Talk about refusing to step up to the plate! The operator can’t even get her to CHECK on him, much less perform CPR. He very well may have been already deceased, but if there was even a remote chance that he was still alive, they should have at least tried to help.
I listened to the 911 call before reading this transcript and it sounds like something bogus. It didn’t sound like it was a real 911 call. Sounded to unprofessional, or the 911 operators are complete MORONS! And then placing another call to the police from across the way and saying maybe he called a little prematurely and asking: If you want I can call you back? The police dept. says: wanna do that? operator: sure.
Now WTF do you call that? It just sounds like a sick joke to me. GOD! I’ve never heard any 911 operator or any police talk like that. If the 911 call is real, then someone should go and BEAT that Stupid reseptionist ASS!!! And Jani’s family should sue the hotel for hiring such incompetent people. This just makes me so sick!!! Poor Jani. He didn’t deserve to die like that. Do they even know about maybe how long Jani was dead before he was discovered? This one is going to be so hard to get over for me. Jani’s voice. WOW! Jani had the most awesome voice of all.
~RIP~ Jani Lane…….. Beautiful Man……..