Kansas City’s 911 problem: Mayor says it must be solved immediately, but solutions will take time

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - If you need emergency help in Kansas City- be prepared to wait. It’s a Kansas City reality that has even affected the mayor personally.

His mother had a medical emergency and his sister sat on hold for more than four minutes before connecting with a call taker for help.

Almost everyone its it is a problem that needs to be fixed. But there are no easy answers. It’s something Mayor Lucas recently discussed with KCTV5 promising it’s a top priority.

“It is the most unacceptable thing I’ve probably ever seen in local government,” said Lucas. “And I think the thing that is probably most concerning for me, isn’t what has already happened to some of my family, but it is what could happen in the future. And the fact that people right now in Kansas City may say should I even call 911?”

KCTV5 has reported on those situations as families give up on 911 and drive seizing children to the hospital themselves or give up and run to firehouses for help surprised by the message that alerts them to wait for the next call taker.

KC’s plans for automation

Kansas City would like to use prompts to allow callers to select either police, fire or medical help when they dial 911.

However, such a system would need to be created by Motorola. There is currently no similar system to copy anywhere else in the United States.

The concept was introduced over the summer and the hope was for such a system to be up and functioning by the end of 2023 or the beginning of this year.

KCTV5 has learned the new rollout date will now be the end of March if everything goes well.

It’s a plan that will also require more resources.

An internal draft memo from KCFD to the city manager reveals concerns:

Based on the information we have, should we proceed with the Auto Attendant, the KCFD Communications Center would incur a 25% or greater workload, requiring additional staff, space, and equipment. Our current Dispatch Center location, within the KCFD Eastwood facility, does not have the capacity required to expand operations, equipment, and staffing levels beyond our current model. The KCFD Communications Center will be obligated to renovate and migrate to a different location within the facility incurring significant cost. The Auto Attendant will have the associated ESTIMATED costs of $3.6m for implementation and an estimated cost $12m over the next ten years for the KCFD.

Mayor Lucas recently said he’s concerned with all the talking and “bureaucracy” surrounding 911 solutions promising his budget will dedicate more resources to ease 911 hold times.

ALSO READ: Data: Here’s how long people wait on hold for 911 in KC

“At this point, it’s too much talking. We need action. This is something that I care about fixing more than almost anything else in the city,” said Lucas.

How long will you wait?

Hold times have been a concern for years. It’s clear from data that the problem is getting worse as KD struggles with high call volume and staffing shortages.

People waited an average of 39 seconds in 2023. May was the worst month where the average hold time was a full minute. Other communities in the metro area have not had the same struggle with hold times.

Kansas City’s hold time is completely outside of nationwide standards for answering emergency calls.

Those standards are set by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), the group that oversees 911.

NENA recommends that 90% of all 911 calls should be answered within 15 seconds and 95% of calls answered within 20 seconds. Kansas City never met that goal for any month in 2023.

New abandoned callback function for hangups and misdials

KD will soon institute a new callback function to address hangups and misdials.

The 2022 annual report reveals that 13.4% of all Kansas City 911 calls were accidents. They are classified as “hangups or misdials.” Data for the previous year shows that percentage has reached as high at 17%.

The abandoned call function means an automated system will connect with callers to see if they want to connect with 911 or if the previous 911 call was a mistake.

How you can help

The Kansas City Police Department asks people to reserve 911 for true emergencies and consider if another number might be more appropriate.

• City complaints -311
• United Way Help - 211
• Mental Health Crisis Line - 988
• KD Non-emergency number is 816-234-5111

KD State of the City address, he announced a $2,500 hiring and retention incentive for 911 call takers and dispatchers.

KCTV5 Investigates: When calling 911, be prepared to wait

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.