3 Okla. Students Call 911 From Under Elevator

Nov. 17--Screaming and pleas for help can be heard on a 911 call released after three girls were trapped under an elevator at Classen School of Advanced Studies.

Oklahoma City officials released two 911 calls Wednesday made after the girls, a sixth-grader and two seventh-graders, were trapped in about a foot of space in the shaft below an elevator at the school Tuesday morning. The girls were taken to a hospital in good condition.

"Please, lift it off, get it off. Help us," one girl screams in the tape.

This is an old-fashioned style of elevator, where one opens a door and then moves back a gate to get onto the lift. Both the door and the gate were supposed to be locked. It's not clear how the girls gained access or why they did it.

The elevator, installed in 1994, is only meant to be used by students who can't use the stairs.

District spokeswoman Tierney Tinnin said a teacher keeps the key to the metal door. One student who uses the elevator daily has a key to the gate. Anyone else needing to use the elevator would need to contact the school office.

Tinnin said school officials have talked to two of the three girls involved in the accident, but did not release what they said about how they got into the elevator shaft.

"We want to make sure we have the correct story," Tinnin said. "We haven't had the opportunity to interview all of them."

Missed inspections

Tinnin said the most recent independent monthly inspection of the elevator was done Oct. 26, and no safety problems were found. However, annual inspections required by Oklahoma City were not done in 2011 or 2010, she said. School officials are reviewing procedures to make sure those inspections are done as required.

School officials refused to release the names of the girls or say whether they were back at school Wednesday, citing a law protecting the privacy of student education records. However, that law does not preclude the release of student names, and state openness laws specifically require such information be released, said Joey Senat, an open government expert and journalism professor at Oklahoma State University.

"Just because the school has it doesn't make it an education record," Senat said. "It's a public school in which there was a serious safety incident. The fact that those students were involved shouldn't be a secret. Not allowing that simply creates an environment where they can hide serious safety problems."

The first of two 911 calls appears to have come from one of the students involved. The caller is difficult to hear because of screaming in the background.

The dispatcher asks the girls to stop screaming so she can hear what they are saying.

"Classen SAS, OK. We're under an elevator," the caller says. "We're trapped under an elevator at Classen SAS High School. Please help us now."

Another 911 call made by a staff member requests both the fire department and an ambulance.

"We're not sure if anyone is hurt," the woman says. "We've got three kids, three little girls that are trapped under an old-fashioned lift, so they are terrified. We don't know if they are hurt, but I know they are terrified."

The caller told the dispatcher she hadn't spoken to the girls but was told they were scared and screaming.

"It's beyond me how they got where they are," she says.

Lara O'Leary, spokeswoman for the Emergency Medical Services Authority, said the girls were in the elevator shaft when they saw the elevator car coming down. They tried to stop the car, and when that failed, they decided to lie on their stomachs.

The elevator car stopped with 10 to 12 inches to spare, which trapped the girls underneath but left them with no serious injuries, O'Leary said.

Tinnin said the elevator at Classen School of Advanced Studies remained out of service Wednesday because a telephone and light were inoperable, but unrelated to safety.

"We've made adjustments to make sure the students that need the elevator can stay on the first floor," Tinnin said. "If that means moving classes around, we will do whatever it takes to make sure they have access."

Copyright 2011 - The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City