 Articles"Scanning" For 9-1-1 Problems
.jpg) By Gordon Michael Clark
Tammy911.com Administrator
POSTED: April 30th, 2008For those with radio scanners who, to the great frustration of the RCMP, listen in on the many conversations that travel across the airwaves each day, the problems with our emergency services are more than evident.
The number of calls the 9-1-1 operators and dispatchers have to handle when incoming calls suddenly skyrocket has led to huge delays in response times, leaving the bewildered callers wondering when the help they are in need of will arrive.
According to one source, with overwhelmed dispatchers revealing they sometimes cannot relay to RCMP the times the 9-1-1 calls were initially received, some of the longer response times have ranged from 20 to 45 minutes.
What's equally disturbing are the calls where emergency vehicles have been sent to incorrect addresses. We have one mention of a response team being sent to the wrong city. Although we have yet to verify all of these reports, it's safe to say we shouldn't be hearing complaints like these at all. Whether some of these are a direct result of over-worked or uninformed operators, an understaffed call centre, or a confused caller can only be speculated at this time. With at least one of these incidence, the caller was not at fault.
There has also been reports of people being denied assistance. In the most recent incident, a woman was driving on the highway from Wasa to Cranbrook while following a car, she said, wasn't even roadworthy, driven by a very impaired individual. When she called 9-1-1 on her cell phone, she was told by the operator they were not interested in doing anything about it. This comes from someone we know to be credible therefor we believe it, although its hard to imagine it could actually happen.
The most common complaint is the need for an exact address to give to the 9-1-1 operator. With some reports we have to emphasise the state of the person making the call and how difficult it can be at times of high anxiety to remember street names, building numbers and even which city they're in. Sometimes the best a caller can do is describe the location.
The lack of familiarity the operators may have with this area has made this the hardest issue to remedy. In one case, an individual called 9-1-1 to report a traffic accident and couldn't provide much more than a highway name and nearest crossroad. They ended up running over and flagging down a passing police car on a nearby road because the dispatch refused to send someone.
According to some sources, operators, while in training, are brought to the area and are toured around by RCMP to get acquainted with landmarks and general locations. Is that going to be enough? There are folks who have lived in this area for decades and don't know it very well.
Hiring people from this region is the only solution the Kelowna dispatch continues to try to implement. Persuading potential employees to move to Kelowna could require unacceptable sacrifices for some, thus limiting the number of individuals who apply and the number of operators who are familiar with our region. With rumors of escalating crime, one bedroom apartments ranging from $1,200 to $1,800 monthly and the overall high cost of living in Kelowna, the alleged $21 per hour wage hardly seems like encouragement, according to some people.
We're still hearing from those who claim they've called and reached the recorded message. It is necessary to consider these calls may have been made during a spike of incoming calls, which the centre admits could always be an issue. If indeed there were three operators on duty at the time of these calls, then it would be safe to assume that they needed more people answering the phones.
With recent unconfirmed reports of three operators quitting due to the lack of staff and pressures to know the geography of all the areas they serve, this 9-1-1 call centre may continue to appear incapable of delivering the quality of service the tax payers of the East Kootenay expect and rightly deserve. Has anyone noticed that we didn't have these problems before they picked it up and moved it to Kelowna?
To keep things in perspective, the 9-1-1 dispatch in Kelowna does function admirably most of the time. As a matter of fact, this writer's life was saved by the actions of the RCMP following an early morning call to 9-1-1 on October 17th, 2007, exactly two months to the day prior to Tammy's death. However, we're not here to pat the dispatch on the back for doing well at a service they're expected to do well at. There's seldom a reward for living up to the expectations of the public, yet we should be thankful for the times when they have sent the help quickly and do their job efficiently. Our focus here is only on the problems with the service because that is what is necessary right now.
In order to maintain any sense of reality, we cannot expect this service to be perfect, regardless of where it is located. But, with Staff Sergeant Troy Gross' presentation to the RDEK board in March, little was said that could make us think the events on the night of December 17th, 2007, wouldn't happen again at some point. Perhaps the provincial standards for these services need to be reviewed and upgraded?
Let us not forget that around 50% of all incoming 9-1-1 calls are from people who want answers to questions the dispatch was never designed to provide. Questions include everything from asking for information regarding weather and road reports, to asking directions and which area code to use when dialing 9-1-1. The dispatch operators have to put up with people asking some of the dumbest questions of them. The 9-1-1 dispatch is for emergency calls only! Apparently, some people just don't understand the logic behind that. No doubt people like that have tied up the lines when valid callers have gotten the recorded message.
A few hours before posting this article, this writer had a conversation with an individual who was listening to his scanner on the night Tammy Lee Ellis was murdered. To say he was horrified by the events he heard regarding a familiar address, or to learn later of the loss of his friend, would be an understatement.
Being well aware of many other mishaps and knowing the 9-1-1 operators and RCMP dispatch are both located in Kelowna, this individual felt it was an unavoidable conclusion that both should have never been moved from here in the first place. He also felt that had they stayed, the events of that night would not have become so infamous. He believes Tammy might still be alive, but concedes, we'll never know now.
He also said that if money is the most important issue then the government and RCMP should probably open their eyes to the consequences of potential law-suits that could occur in the future if this poor quality of service continues and any more lives are sacrificed for the sake of saving money.
Clearly, with all the reports we've been receiving, the problems with the 9-1-1 service are filling an ever expanding list. The solutions required to solve all these problems may not be as simple as thought, but we believe we know of a good place to start.
According to an increasingly large number of East Kootenay residence, the only sure solution would be to move the dispatch back to Cranbrook. If this city reaches it's estimated doubling in size in the next five years or so, not taking into account the other cities in the region, the problems we are now experiencing will only get worse and it would be a wise decision to move it back here long before then.
When would be the best time to move it? We at Tammy911.com believe there's no time like the present.
Is this a 'money' issue rather than a moral one? It certainly seems to be! If this was a moral issue, the quality of the service would be the first priority and the location of the service it originates from would be secondary. If that was the case, would there still be the opposition to the re-institution of a call centre in the East Kootenays? We don't think so - and with over 12,000 signatures on the petition at the time of this posting, we're definitely not alone.
In conclusion, the amalgamation of the call centres may guarantee the saving of taxpayer's money, but can it guarantee the saving of taxpayer's lives? The dispatch should be thankful more lives have not hung in the balance of their abilities to answer all calls quickly. How much is one life worth? That’s the one question Tammy's dad, Don Michalsky, cannot get answered - and it’s not from a lack of trying. | 
