City aims to improve 911 response

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The city's Public Safety Task Force is taking a closer look at emergency hold times for calls answered last year. On Monday, the Austin Police Department Emergency Communications Department laid out the 911 call volume for the task force over the last 13 months.

According to statistics, more than 800,000 were on hold for less than 10 seconds, but more than 18,000 callers were on hold for more than 21 seconds. That did not please Council Member Mike Martinez, who spent his career as a firefighter.

"For 18,000 people to be calling, I'm sure not all of them are in dire emergency," said Martinez. "But to them, they are and that's why they dial 911."

And while the Emergency Communications Department always work to reduce the hold time, the majority of the 911 calls that held more than 21 seconds came at peak times, when multiple callers were dialing in at the same time.

"With most people having cell phones, it's very common for us to get multiple calls on a situation," said Marcia Brooks, APD Communications Manager. "Especially, situations on a major roadway or any major fire, you will have individuals who will see the smoke from their car that will actually call in."

Major crashes contributed to long wait times. Also, last May 15, more than 100 calls came into dispatch about a possible tornado and on the Fourth of July, 911 took more than 100 calls in a half hour period on fireworks.

Brooks said out of those hold times that went over 21 seconds, a few reached over 4 minutes which is something that is rare for the department, but something they are looking to improve.

Brooks also added some points for those who call 911. When someone hangs up on 911 from a residence or commercial location, communications will dispatch an officer just to make sure everything is okay. But, if they get a hang-up from a cell phone, the operator will call right back.