911 hang-ups mean backups for dispatchers

Muffled voices and little else could be heard in a call from a preschool to Lynchburg’s Emergency Communication’s Center this week.

Dispatcher Wanda Brown picked up the line and tried to get someone to talk to her. She could make out someone saying, “Do you need to go potty or are you ready to go out and play?”

She was sure it was a “pocket-rider” — a term dispatchers use when a cell phone in a pocket or purse dials 911 when its buttons get pushed.

These hang-up calls or open lines where no one speaks to dispatchers increased dramatically last year. In 2008, Lynchburg’s 911 center received 4,075 hang-up calls, with some 1,961 of those coming from cellular phones.

In 2007, those calls totaled 3,329 with only 883 calls coming from cell phones.

Melissa Foster, deputy director of emergency communications, said the increase in hang-up and nonverbal calls is exacerbated by tight staffing situations and a general increase over the past few years in calls for emergency services.

A recent workload study found that Lynchburg’s emergency communications center is understaffed by about three dispatchers compared to the number of calls they take.

“The call numbers continue to go up and it is stretching our resources,” Foster said. “You reach a point where you can’t do anymore.”

Hang-up calls from wireless phones have dramatically increased because of the number of phones out there, Foster said.

The calls can be surprisingly time-consuming.

With the recent preschool call, for example, Brown cannot let go of the open line until she talks to someone to make sure there is no emergency, even though other 911 calls are coming in at the same time.

If she can’t determine the nature of the call, she has to dispatch a police officer to check on the caller.

“We consider it as an emergency until we can find out if it is or not, either by talking to the person or sending an officer,” Foster said.

“Every time the phone rings we have to assume it is an emergency. When you have this many that are false calls, it can wear on your resources.”

Often the calls are from cell phones no longer in use and forgotten, or given by owners to their children as toys, Foster said.

As long as the phone’s battery is charged, even if service is disconnected, it will dial 911. And pushing any button to place a call on the disabled phone can result in a call to 911.

Foster said this can be prevented by locking the keypad on the phone.

Sometimes accidental 911 calls happen when a person thinks they are dialing 411 for information or when trying to call a number in the Raleigh area code of 919.

If you accidentally call 911, Foster said, don’t hang up. Just wait until the dispatcher answers and explain it was a mistake. That keeps from tying up resources trying to find out if the caller really has an emergency.

“If it’s accidental, stay on the line and let us know it’s an accident,” Foster said. “Just stay on the phone and let us know that you are OK.”

Brown said these calls can sometimes require five minutes or better to determine if the person is OK. And that is in the middle of taking calls for smoke in a building, or a heart attack, or a burglary.

“It can be time consuming, but that is what we are here for,” Brown said. “We try to check on all of them.”

Bill Aldrich, director of the communications center, said they are looking at policy to determine if there is a better, more time efficient way to handle the calls while ensuring public safety.

Capt. Brandon Zuidema, of the Lynchburg Police Department, said police officers have to be sent if there is no voice contact with a 911 caller.

“It’s a waste of resources,” he said. “If you realize it, stay on the line. We’d rather hear everything is OK, than to send a police officer and tie up telecommunicator resources.”