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Norma Stucki, 72, was pronounced dead just after midnight after firefighters reached her locked North Fort Myers home within seven minutes of her Feb. 23, 2010, 911 call but waited 14 minutes for a Lee County sheriff's deputy before forcing entry.

Stucki had called 911 from the home, saying she was sick and struggling to breathe. She told the dispatcher she was alone in her two-story house on Bayshore Road and would unlock the door, according to Bayshore Fire & Rescue and Lee County officials. She never made it there.

A doorbell could be heard ringing on the recording of her call, but that detail was never relayed to the crew on scene. The front door was locked when firefighters arrived.

Diane Holm, spokeswoman for Lee County Public Safety, said crews called for a deputy because a sign on the door read "Forget about the dog, worry about the owner," alongside an image of a gun. Firefighters were taking the last hinge off the door when the deputy pulled up.

Bayshore Fire & Rescue Chief Larry Nisbet said an internal review found his crew acted properly based on what dispatchers told them, calling the information "a little vague." He said firefighters might have gone in without waiting on law enforcement had they known the doorbell was audible on the 911 recording, or that dispatchers had lost contact with Stucki.

Nisbet said he contacted other Florida fire departments and instructors from a federal Executive Fire Officer Program afterward and found few agencies had a written policy for forcing entry on medical calls. He said he was surprised, and planned to meet with neighboring departments to draft one.

Stucki's husband, Ron Stucki, said crews had a right to go in immediately because she had called 911, and faulted dispatchers for not passing along more information. "My response is I'm angry as hell," he said. Lee County's 911 program manager, Matt Rechkemmer, said the dispatcher followed established procedures and that no changes would be made to dispatch policy. Holm said medics were found to have acted appropriately as well, though Lee County Public Safety had separately promoted a new deputy director and operations chief that same week.