Philadelphia 911 Dispatchers' Union Warning Callers Not To Hang Up Despite Slow Response Time
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Some Philadelphia residents complain that when they call 911, no one answers or the response is slower than it should be. When you're experiencing an emergency, every second counts and the response time could be the difference between life and death. So when Eyewitness News heard the city was slow to respond to 911 calls, we wanted to find out why.
"If you dial that number and nobody answers, what are you supposed to do?," Fairmount resident Melissa Brannon said.
Last week we heard from residents in Philadelphia's Fairmount neighborhood, who say their 911 calls are often going unanswered or are met with a slow response time. CBS3 took those concerns to the union representing the city's dispatchers.
"No, no. Do not believe that calls aren't being answered. Calls are being answered," Gordon Zimmit, President of Local 1637, tells Eyewitness News.
But he doesn't deny 911 response times are lagging.
"Sometimes, when there's multiple incidents, especially at the same time at different times of the day, what will happen is everyone calls and sometimes it does take longer than expected," he said.
At the heart of the problem, Zimmit says, is a shortage of 911 dispatchers. Right now, there is a total of 275. He says that number should be closer to 350.
"We're still 75 short," Zimmit tells Eyewitness News. "We have a lot of people working double shifts and it does take a toll."
When you combine the shortage of dispatchers with a higher volume of calls, he says it compounds the problem.
"The problem sometimes is the retainment. Last year we had 108 dispatchers hired, only 51 retained," Zimmit said. "Being overworked. Some of these individuals are here 12 hours, some are here 14, 16. And sometimes it takes a toll on people."
Still, Zimmit insists all 911 calls are being answered as long as you're willing to wait.
"Please do not hang up. Continue to call 911. Your call will be answered. It will be answered," he said.
The dispatchers' union says response times are improving and they're hiring more dispatchers, but it takes four to six weeks on average to train them so they're asking for patience.
