Another 911 Center That Is Understaffed

And the politicos seem unwilling to ask the real question, "Why?" Questions Remain About Delayed 911 Response Time In The Capital City | News | Montgomery Independent

Montgomery, Alabama has a 911 problem.

The councilman [Ed Grimes] also told [Jerime] Reid [the mayor's chief of staff] that he knows someone personally who called 911 and did not have their call answered “for an hour and 10 minutes.”

That is a long time by any measure. So what causes things like that?

[Reid] also told the council that 911 operators are answering “every call they can”. Although, out of the 56 operators needed only 26 of the positions are filled.

Reid told the council that 14 people have applied for the positions in the 911 call center and will be interviewed soon.

So why are there so few operators in the 911 call center? At a guess, based on other call centers that have had similar problems, it is because the pay is not worth the stress and the awful working conditions.

Still, he says that the city being 30 operators short is a “sad thing" and he has no more information on plans to remedy this situation from the mayor's office.

911 call operators are talking to people on one of the worst days of their lives. Their house is on fire. A relative is having a heart attack. They are facing a violent criminal. Something awful has happened, is happening, or is about to happen.

911 call centers are often run in a way that crushes the soul out of people for 8 or 10 hours a day. The fact that they are chronically understaffed means there is a lot of overtime. People burn out on that overtime and quit. Or they get some experience and move to a 911 call center that pays more, and is less soul-crushing.

Those 14 potential new hires won't solve the problem. Some won't make it through the interview process. Some won't stick around through the training period. Some will burn out on overtime and quit.