A Howard County emergency dispatcher who received a 911 hang-up call helped save the life of a man who was having heart trouble.

The dispatcher, Andrew Cummins, got the call at 7:20 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2. He heard the sound of traffic in the background, but no signs of anything wrong, and then the call ended, police said.

With latitude and longitude data provided by the cell phone carrier, he was able to begin sending police to the general area of routes 29 and 32 in Columbia. Then he called the number back, and though someone picked up, nothing was being said.

But Cummins could hear moaning.

The dispatcher sent out fire and rescue vehicles, then stayed on the phone. Emergency rescuers located the vehicle, and found the man suffering a cardiac event, police said. He was taken to Howard County General Hospital. The man, whose name was not released, was discharged from the hospital on Friday, Nov. 4, police said.

Dispatchers receive a lot of 911 hang-up calls, often due to misdials, people with their phones in their pockets accidentally dialing 911, or children calling, according to police spokeswoman Elizabeth Schroen.

But Cummins "had the instinct that something wasn't right with the call," Schroen said. "The open line didn't sound like a typical pocket dial. Sending those resources right away and then trying to verify what was going on saved some critical minutes."