What If You Called 911 And No One Answered?

That is becoming a problem. Bystanders jump in as Atlanta woman waits on hold for 911

Yes, the story involved is scary. But as they say, don't hang up when you get the "please hold on" message. It won't help to call back.

In an emergency when every second counts, a CBS46 investigation uncovered a frightening trend. In 2020, roughly 5% of Atlanta’s 911 callers waited on hold for more than 40 seconds. In 2021, that number grew to 9% and in the first four months of 2022, that number jumped to nearly 13%.

One guy was on hold for 5 minutes. He recorded the call, because he wasn't in the middle of an emergency. (An alarm was going off in his area.)

And there is more.

Through public records, CBS46 Investigates found that three power outages have taken place at the Atlanta E-911 Center since November. Two took place in November and one took place in February. After the February incident, a city worker recommended the city buy a new power supply because the old one was “20 years old and at end of life.”

There was also an air-conditiong failure, which caused the department to send people home. There is an upgrade for all of that in the works that will cost 3.6 million dollars. It won't get started until August, and it won't be complete until 2023.

So while you are thinking about what would it mean for 5 minutes to go by while someone was trying to break down your door, you might also want to think about a Plan B.

Calling 911 is a fine thing to do. They can send all kinds of help your way. But it is a system built and maintained (or not maintained) by people and politicians; it won't always work the way you hope it will. Hence, plan B. What will you do during that wait, whether it be 40 seconds or 4 minutes?