LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — For over a year, we've been following how 911 calls have been going unanswered or delayed in Little Rock— but now change is coming.
“There's not a whole bunch of jobs where if you make a mistake, there's a possibility of a loss of life or property. Here, that's what we're facing,” said Emergency Communications Training Manager, Michelle Armstrong.
The 911 call center in Little Rock has been navigating an employee shortage for about a year.
“We filled in for each other and we've stepped up to the plate, we work in longer hours, and we're filling in where we need to,” said Shift Supervisor, Eutica McHenry.
They've been working to find ways to keep their current employees and find new ones. The latest method of fixing the issue is a new program called Priority Dispatch.
“What I believe it will do is help us become more uniform in our call-taking routine,” said Emergency Communications Trainer, Ariel Urquhart.
The workers at the center explained that it provides unified training for everyone.
“Everybody's learning the same thing, everybody’s asking the same questions,” said Urquhart. “We will be able to shorten the time that they're in an academy, doing behind the scenes doing paperwork, and they're actually on the floor.”
That shorter training time will help them get more people on the call center floor quickly.
“Just on average, we're talking three to four months of training,” said Armstrong. “We guess that that will cut that training, maybe in half.”
The overall goal is for those who answer the phones know what to ask and what to do.
“Because we've asked the appropriate questions, we can assess the danger, we can secure the same for these callers, and then get the response that they need,” said McHenry.
Since everyone is using the same methods, they'll be able to track the efficiency to figure out what they need to do better.
“It is what makes this program actually put an effort to make this work,” said Urquhart. “We're trying to broaden or better the relationship between our call takers, our dispatch center, and the citizens of Little Rock.”
Tuesday was the first day the center started using the system and they said it’s going well so far. They also have plans in the works to make sure they can reach people who may need assistance in Spanish.