A San Diego County 911 call center is facing scrutiny for its inability to meet national response time standards. The center, which handles calls for unincorporated areas and several cities, has struggled to answer calls within the recommended 15 seconds, leaving some residents waiting for extended periods during emergencies. This article investigates the causes of these delays and the efforts being made to improve response times.
When you call 911, dispatchers are supposed to pick up within 15 seconds, but the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is failing to meet those national standards.
Munson’s parents were staying with her, her husband and kids at their Ramona home in February 2023. On that weekday morning, Munson was working remotely in her kitchen while her folks were in the guest house. NBC 7 Investigates searched through records of individual 911 calls made during Munson’s father’s emergency. We found two calls that matched the time frame her mother called. One went unanswered for 1 minute and 54 seconds. The next rang for 36 seconds before the call ended.
NENA sets national standards for 911 call centers. Under those standards, dispatchers should answer 90% of all 911 calls within 15 seconds.In 2023, San Diego County’s 911 center only answered 70.3% of calls within 15 seconds. Last year, only 66.2% of callers reached a human being within 15 seconds.This graphic details the performance of the San Diego County Sheriff's 911 emergency call center.
Hebert said delays in answering calls all come down to staffing. If the county’s call center was fully staffed, it should have 123 workers. Right now. only 97 of those positions are filled. And of those, more than a quarter can’t answer any calls yet because they’re still being trained. That means the county is running with just 58% of the people it needs to answer calls.
“Since we are a law enforcement agency, our people have to go through an extensive background process, and we can't hire just anybody that's interested in doing the job,” Hebert told NBC 7 Investigates.It generally takes 14-16 months for dispatchers to complete training and begin answering 911 calls.
911 Emergency Services Response Time San Diego County Staffing Shortages Public Safety
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