Roanoke (Va.) Fire/EMS Addresses Impact of 9-1-1 Misuse

  ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ7) Each day, dispatchers and Roanoke Fire/EMS deal with life and death emergencies, but not all the calls they get are for actual emergencies. When 911 dispatchers pick up a call -- they have to be ready for the worst. Often enough, those calls are less than critical. John Powers, Roanoke E911 System Coordinator, said, “A lot of times people will call 911 when they just don't know who else to call.” John Powers knows the problem well. He says they get calls here for stubbed toes, colds and toothaches, just to name a few. Often, those people end up getting a pricey ride to the ER. Powers said, “Today if you call 911, the only thing we can do really is send you an ambulance or send you a police officer and none of them are really the right choice.” Read more...
Source: JEMS Operations - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: News Videos Communications & Dispatch Operations Source Type: news