Insider Explains Flaws In Mayor Q's Plan To Fix Kansas City 911

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Accordingly . . .

Here's the latest word from insiders on why Mayor Q's new plan might not work . . .

911 Wait Times: Mayor Lucas Combining KCFD & KCPD Is Not Going To Solve The Problem.

The notion that having a phone tree asking callers "if you need fire press 1, if you need police press 2, if you need EMS press 3…" is impractical at best.

When people are in crisis, they’ll push any button if they think someone will answer.  It’s only going to further delay that person getting to the right call taker/dispatcher for what they need.

KCFD is not trained to ask the questions that KCPD asks, just like KCPD call takers are not trained to ask the medical questions necessary to triage a patient that needs EMS.

Having everyone in the same room is not going to change anything.

Speaking of KCFD - they “require” a police response often. Sometimes for reasons even the police don’t understand. If one of their EMS/KCFD call takers feels like the person calling for help is “belligerent” they will ask for police because they don’t want to go into a “volatile situation” - most people who are calling 911 for a loved one who is having a heart attack or can’t breathe sometimes they don’t feel like answering the questions. Yes, I know they’re pertinent, but they have to understand that they’re just being impatient and they are scared for their loved one.

It’s scary when calls like that come into Dispatch because we know somebody needs emergency help but EMS/KCFD won’t go until police get there to “calm the person down first.”

It’s ridiculous.  Again, calls like that will hold for over an hour . . . One of these days someone’s family is gonna start asking questions about response time where that is concerned . . . 

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