There is a lot wrong with 911 calls

Jul 21, 2009 Editorial

For some time now there have been charges by members of the public that they have been placing calls to 911 and getting no response. That number is for emergencies and generally, it is the most crucial of telephone numbers in any part of the world. Even cell phones without money in an account can access that number.

When a family on an outing in the Mahaica River encountered problems and the boat sank, claiming three lives, people on the shore claimed that they called 911 on countless occasions but got no reply. They later made this fact known and even provided the numbers from which they placed the calls.
The police later checked the complaints and determined that the people were not telling the truth. The police reported that their investigation revealed that no telephone calls were made from the numbers provided by the people who claimed that they made the calls.

This was just one case; others made similar claims and the police reported that their investigations proved that the people did not call 911. Last week, this charge reared its head again, this time on West Demerara. Gunmen had entered a guest house and after robbing the people there, proceeded to shoot the owner.
We firmly believe the woman who said that she placed more than a dozen 911 calls and got no answer. In the end the shot owner died, reports were that he bled to death. The police never turned up until it was too late.
That same week, some gunmen targeted a goldsmith even as he had entered his yard and had parked his car. This occurred not far from the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station. It is not clear whether the victims dialed 911. Suffice it to say that the police were slow to respond.

Last year, at the annual Police Officers Conference, the Commissioner stated that the telephone system was being revamped so that anyone, in any part of the country who dialed 911, would access a police station in that community and get prompt action. The various Divisions would respond to the 911 calls within that Division.
We have not been able to ascertain whether this is actually the case but we do have to cases, one in the east Coast Division and the other in the West Demerara Division. We also know that people in the city find it challenging to access 911. In response to invitations by people who claimed to have dialed the number and got no response, reporters have found this to be true.
There must be a reason for this failure. The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company claims that it has nothing to do with the failure of the police to respond to such calls. It said that in instances where it helped the police determine whether the calls were made it transpired that indeed, there were instances of the calls being made and not being answered.

Something must be wrong. In any part of t he world 911 calls are treated with alacrity and the response is prompt. And this is how it should be so this begs investigation. There are other emergency numbers that also go unanswered. One of them is the number for an ambulance, 913.
Recently, an injured person was brought out of the hinterland on a mercy flight and was left lying at the Ogle Airstrip for a very long time because no ambulance responded. There has been no explanation.
But the number most often called is 911 and with criminals targeting the coastal communities, it is imperative that the people feel certain that when they call the emergency number that there would be prompt response.
All too often we hear people saying that if the police had responded promptly they, the police, would have caught the men.
It is expected that something be done in a hurry. If the local telephone company is not responsible for the non-receipt of the calls, then the fault lies with the police. Perhaps the desk that accepts these calls is often unmanned. This must never be the case.

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There is a lot wrong with 911 calls

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