Expert says 911 dispatch centers are understaffed

While city officials and emergency analysts say Boston’s 911 dispatch centers are understaffed and overworked, public safety officials contended that although the system is not perfect, Boston adequately provides emergency assistance to its citizens.

Although every 911 call made from a landline telephone is automatically directed to the 911 call center in the region, every wireless 911 call made in Massachusetts — not only in Boston — is routed to the Massachusetts State Police, who must then transfer the call to the appropriate regional 911 center, said Gary Allen, editor of Dispatch magazine, a monthly publication for public safety professionals.

Allen said this may delay the emergency response time.

He added that 911 responses might also be delayed if “calls aren’t routed to the correct emergency center, if there aren’t enough call-takers to promptly answer the calls or when there aren’t enough officers, fire or emergency medical units to handle the incoming emergencies.”

Allen said most of these larger centers are understaffed — which means not all calls are immediately answered.

“The understaffing could also mean that the person who does answer the 911 call has been working 15 hours straight to cover an open shift,” Allen said. “Mistakes are possible through fatigue or inattention [and] could impact the outcome of the incident.”

Allen said if there are too many phone calls and not enough dispatchers, the 911 system in larger dispatch centers play a recorded message. Allen said the caller is placed in line for service and should not hang up, because a second call places them at the back of the line again.

According to Allen, while many cities are working to make 911 more efficient, the problem does not have a single or quick solution.

“A combined approach is the most successful, and it must be a program that’s on-going,” he said.

Boston City Councilor Maureen Feeney (Harbor Island, Dorchester), who chairs the council’s Government Operations Committee and the Health and Human Services Committee, raised the issue during the Oct. 18 City Council meeting.

However, members of the Boston Police Department said their staff is prepared to deal with 911 emergencies.

“I don’t believe it’s understaffed,” said BPD Officer John Boyle. “If a call does come in and is on delay, someone will pick it up right away, though. It’s not a case that people are on hold with 911.”

Lt. Christopher Stratton, Boston EMS spokesman, said even if a caller must wait for an ambulance, EMS call takers “provide pre-arrival instructions to the caller to assist on scene,” a practice, he said, that often saves lives.

“Our system is dependent on human beings doing their jobs and they do it well,” he said.

Stratton said there are many hard-working people contributing to the system, but it is still important for 911 systems to “make changes and improvements as they become necessary to serve the public as efficiently as possible.”

Stratton said the 911 system is important because “people depend on it, lives depend on it.” He added that the public trust is at stake, and that no matter what the severity of an emergency, all callers should be helped promptly.

“A good-working 911 system should be there to provide that assistance to anyone and everyone,” he said. “That is what we do in public safety.”

Boston Fire Department spokesman Scott Salmon said he does not think the fire department — which also responds to emergency calls — is overworked, but did not comment about 911 dispatchers.

According to a Jan. 30 Boston Globe article, 97.7 percent of Boston’s structure fires from 1986 to 2002 received a response from the Fire Departments within six minutes of a 911 call, which is considered “on-time.”