( Cincinnati ) - "We're going to make sure everything gets fixed that ought to be fixed." That from attorney Al Gerhardstein in a news conference on Friday, following the announcement of a settlement between the City of Cincinnati and the family of Kyle Plush. The 16-year-old died after becoming trapped in his van near school exactly three years ago Saturday.
The city the Plush family have agreed to a $6 million dollar settlement to end their wrongful death lawsuit, and that also involves changes to the City Emergency Communication Center. "Kyle was a very positive person, and he would've wanted to make change to improve things, and this is a positive change. We're going in the right direction," said Jill Plush at Friday's news conference.
No official apology from Cincinnati. Gerhardstein says the family never asked for an apology, but action instead.
Improvements to the ECC include changes in leadership, data-based approaches, higher employee retention rates, improved call response times, and amending procedures to emergency calls classified as "unknown trouble," which could've helped save Kyle's life on that day three years ago.