ASLEEP ON THE JOB: 911 Operator Caught Snoring at Switchboard

A woman who called 911 because her husband was unconscious got a rude awakening. The Montgomery County, Maryland operator she was transferred to was sleeping -- and snoring -- on the job.

The problem was rectified 38 seconds later when her call was transferred to another operator, but not before the snoring was recorded. Audio of the episode, which happened in April, was released earlier this week.

Montgomery Assistant Fire Chief Scott Graham said, "It's something we certainly don't want to happen and we don't think will happen again."

The sleeping dispatcher, who is trained as both a 911 operator and a firefighter, hasn't been identified, but he's been put on administrative leave with pay. He was in the 17th hour of a 24-hour shift that included a six-hour break. He was just 20 minutes away from his break.