One Kansas City family were stunned when they called 911 seeking for help when a child went unconscious and started having seizures. “We literally have a 4-year-old baby unconscious, seizing on the floor and we can’t get ahold of 911,” said Simone Grantham. Then they tried to call a precinct directly and got another automated message. Our investigative team has revealed the startling statistics on 911 hold times. The average wait time in four months of last year was longer than 20 seconds. That’s outside the national standards. Even worse, the maximum hold times in two months of last year was more than 12 minutes.
The family then decided to the best thing to do was drive the kid to the hospital them selves. The little boy is fine now, but the family has no confidence in the 911 system because it failed them
What would you do if you called 911 and got an automated hold?
Do you think they should of waited for someone to answer them or do what they did and take the person to the hospital themselves?
Replies
If I get myself into this situation I would probably have a small panic attack and then drive to the hospital and do everything I could to keep them alive. I would be very mad at 911 but understand why they only have so many people there working.
Peronally if I'm ever in a situation, I would drive to a hospital no matter what. If I was put on hold I would for sure drive to the hospital. 911 is supposed to be there for you when you need them. Maybe I would call the 811. If I tried them and they couldn't help me, I'd be mad. My family knows lots of cops, so I'd call one of them up to maybe help me get to the hospital.
If I were to ever be put on hold if I were to call 911, I'd be terrified. The system was set up so that people could get a quick response if they were in an emergency and people should never be put on hold or told to wait when calling the emergency number. I think that what the family did was smart, because if they would have waited, the situation could've turned life-threatening.
I would be very upset especially if one of my friends or family members were fighting for their life and needed urgant medical attention. I woud be even more upset if I lost a family member due to an incedent like that. I think thay it was a smart Idea just to take the child to the hospital themselves.
If it was put on hold your should go to hospital and get help if the ambulance doesn't come. Also if you get put on hold your better off just going to the hosptial by yourself because it might the ambulance to get there and it is also a lot cheaper if its not an emergency.
First off I think this is crazy. If I was put on hold I would probably be very angry. Poeple are paying their taxes to fund the government and its operations, like police stations. If they're paying their taxes so that they can have the opportunity to call 911 if they need to, and then get put on hold, then they should be upset. I think it was the right decicion to take the child to the hospital themselves because without 911 answering than it seems like a faster option.
I think they did the right thing afeter realizing they were on hold, but it is a tragedy that they had to do that. Just like any system, 911 has its flaws that can be fixed.
If I got put on hold I would hangup and go to the hospital, depending on what I am calling 911 for. It was good that they took him to the hospital because he is fine now.
I agree. Lots of people are saying to just get more dispatchers, but they are hard to come by because not a lot of people want to do it. It also takes a unique person to have to stay calm and think straight in the situations they are put in sometimes.
If that happened to me, I would try and solve the problem myself because I like to consider myself a problem solver. I think they did the right thing because they probably wouldn't of had much longer until something worse happened to the 4 year old.
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