Shortage of 911 dispatchers raises grave concerns in major U.S. city: ‘Nobody answers the phone’

PHILADELPHIA, PA– Typically, those who call 9-1-1 do so because there is an imminent emergency they need assistance with. In such situations, one would expect for someone to quickly answer the call and assist with whatever the need is.

That used to be the case, however, since the defunding police and the anti-police movements began, police departments are stretched thin across the board, and the manpower is just not there any longer in many departments across the country.

A group of people in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania recently learned that help is not always just one call away, not given today’s current climate at least.

One of those individuals, Albert Palubinsky, spoke to Action News, and said that on Monday, July 26th, around 11 p.m. he and his neighbors were alerted to a fire across the street by a woman walking her dog.

Palubinsky said that the events that unfolded next were disturbing, as several members of the community called 9-1-1, but no one answered the phone.

Albert Palubinsky said:

“I call 9-1-1, Kevin calls 9-1-1, my wife calls 9-1-1, and nobody answers the phone,”

He continued:

“I say it lasted about 20 minutes because at first the phone had just rang and rang and rang until it disconnected,”

After alerting the occupants of the building, neighbor Kevin Little jumped into action and attempted to put the fire out himself, knowing he was not able to get ahold of anyone for emergency assistance.

Little said:

“I had two small fire extinguishers, so I was able to initially put the fire out but it came back,”

Albert’s wife Beth finally thought to call the 18th Police District, where someone answered the phone.

She said:

“And within two minutes, there was a fleet of fire trucks,”

Philadelphia police have admitted that 9-1-1 wait times are still too long due to an increase in call volume and staffing shortages, Action News reported.

Funding to hire 75 additional dispatchers was recently approved by Philadelphia Mayor, Jim Kenney, and the first group just graduated last week.

Fortunately, once firefighters were alerted by police, they were able to put the fire out quickly.

Although assistance eventually arrived, residence still have very little faith in the current 9-1-1 system.

Beth Palubinsky said:

“The fault it seems to be is in a system that allows there not to be enough people to answer enough calls. How can that be?”

She went on to say:

“This was a wake-up call to us because if it hadn’t been for the neighbors… thank God for my neighbors.”

Police are hopeful the hiring of 75 additional dispatchers will vastly improve wait times.

Philadelphia Fire Department’s fiscal year 2022 budget testimony provided the following information for fire and EMS response times:

-The average fire engine response time in 2020 was 6 minutes 35 seconds. The goal for FY 21 & 22 is for that response time to be 6 min 39 sec or less.

-In 2020, 22.39% of fire calls were responded to within 5 min 20 sec. The goal for FY 21 & 22 is for at least 90% of calls to be responded to within 5 min 20 sec.

-The average EMS response time in 2020 was 11 min 4 sec. The goal for FY 21 & 22 is for that response time to be 9 min or less.

-In 2020, 34.1% of fire calls were responded to within 9 min. The goal for FY 21 & 22 is for at least 90% of calls to be responded to within 9 min.

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continued:
https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/shortage-of-911-dispatchers-causes-concerns-in-philadelphia-nobody-answers-the-phone/

For those who think we should do away with 2A, here's another reason WHY.

WHAT are you going to do if you call 911 for help, and nobody answers?