Copyright 2006 Chattanooga Publishing Company
By GINNY LAROE
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
A Chattanooga mother found out Monday what it’s like to place one of the thousands of calls that are not answered by the city’s 911 dispatchers.
During one 10-month period in 2005, records show nearly 27,000 calls to 911 went unanswered. Last month, 20 percent, or 2,092, of the 10,650 calls were unanswered, records show.
Stacey Hunter and her family took matters into their own hands Monday after repeatedly calling 911 when a fire broke out in the kitchen of their Brainerd home. After getting no answer, her son and nephew ran to a nearby fire station and alerted firefighters to the emergency.
“I was standing in the rain saying ‘Please let them answer the phone,’” Mrs. Hunter said.
Chattanooga Police Department Chief Steve Parks, who is responsible for Chattanooga’s call takers at the Hamilton County Emergency Communications District, said Monday’s incident highlights staffing issues.
“This is not acceptable,” Chief Steve Parks said Tuesday. “This was a failure of our department.”
He said only one dispatcher was taking calls at the time when Mrs. Hunter and some of her eight children and nieces and nephews tried to call 911 from their home and wireless phones.
Chief Parks said the three other employees on that shift were on break.
Records show there were 22 unanswered calls made in a 27-minute period about 12:30 p.m. Monday when a fire was destroying Mrs. Hunter’s kitchen cabinets.
Mrs. Hunter said about 15 of the calls came from her family, but police could confirm only six as coming from her Club Drive address.
Nearly 27,000 calls from inside Chattanooga to 911 were unanswered from January to October 2005, according to a police department report.
“The 911 District and oversight (have) created a false sense of appearance for citizens that calling 911 will instantly and immediately connect to an awaiting call taker,” Deputy Chief Charles Cooke wrote in a November 2005 report to Chief Parks.
While the deputy chief said it is unrealistic to eliminate all “abandoned” calls — since there are a variety of reasons callers hang up before getting service — the department has made efforts.
Deputy Chief Cooke said Tuesday more dispatchers now work in the busiest hours from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and employees have to sign up for lunch and 15-minute breaks so services aren’t interrupted. He said this has led to a decrease in unanswered calls.
He said staffing remains a problem.
“Incoming calls have increased with very little increase in personnel,” Deputy Chief Cooke said.
He said there now are 67 communications officers, but 78 are needed.
Both Chief Parks and Deputy Chief Cooke said the department is considering asking for funding in the city’s next budget for 911 staffing.
But that doesn’t comfort Mrs. Hunter.
“There’s no excuse,” she said about her unanswered calls. “Suppose this situation happened to (Chief Parks), and he was at work and his family at home. How would he feel if 911 wouldn’t pick up the phone?”
Bruce Garner, spokesman for the Chattanooga Fire Department, said firefighters arrived at the home two minutes after the boys arrived at the station.
“Once we were notified of the fire by the boys, we got there very, very quickly and minimized the damage,” he said.
All dispatchers employed by municipalities in Hamilton County work at the Hamilton County Emergency Communications District’s call center in Chattanooga.