immigrationcoalition "The voices on the emergency calls sound calm. Matter-of-fact. Routine. ' 'Frio County 911. What is your emergency?' I’m calling from the Dilley immigration center in Dilley, Texas. I’m calling for a little kid going through respiratory distress.' The callers — medical staff inside the remote facility that houses hundreds of immigrant children and their parents in South Texas — tick through the clinical details: symptoms, vital signs, ages. 'He’s a 6-year-old male.' 'Sixty?' 'Six-year-old.' On the calls, staff at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center request ambulances for children struggling to breathe, burning with fever or appearing lethargic — emergencies unfolding inside a detention center that lawyers, immigration advocates and pediatricians have warned is not suitable for children. 'We have a child that is possibly having an allergic reaction. Male, little boy.' 'It’s a 13-year-old. Possible leg fracture.' 'He’s desatting. … His oxygen level is 80.' 'Five to 7 years old … three seizures today.' Since mid-September, emergency crews have been dispatched to Dilley at least 11 times to treat children in medical distress, according to EMS call logs and 911 audio obtained by NBC News. The calls offer a glimpse into what happens when children fall seriously ill inside a detention center that has become a flashpoint in the national immigration debate. Most of the children were taken to a nearby community hospital, the records show. In at least three cases, children were transferred more than an hour away to a specialized pediatric hospital in San Antonio equipped to treat complex or life-threatening conditions, according to the logs. In one case involving a 22-month-old in respiratory distress, the boy’s condition was so serious, first responders wanted to fly him to the hospital by helicopter but couldn’t because of bad weather, the records show. Parents of another toddler with low oxygen refused to be transported." via @nbcnews View all 75 comments