'It's stressful' | Workers at DC's 911 call center voice staffing shortages concerns

The hearing hosted by the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, chaired by Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, focused on the staffing shortage at the Office of Unified Communications (OUC).

For the first time, call takers and dispatchers at OUC shared with the DC Council how staffing is impacting their day-to-day operations at the agency. 

"It's stressful, it's stressful," EMS call taker Manuel Tate told Councilmember Charles Allen when asked what was making people leave the agency. "You expect somebody who has already been there 12 hours, which mentally is 15, and you just say, 'hey stay another four hours.'" 

Others shared similar experiences, testifying that managers are forced to take calls when employees do not show up to work.

OUC Director Heather McGaffin was not able to provide Pinto a number of how many days in October the 911 Call Center has met the minimum staffing goal. McGaffin said the majority of vacancies at the 911 call center will be filled by November setting the agency up for their staffing goal for next year. 

"January of 2025 has always been and will remain the goal to have full staffing in the call taking division of 911," she told WUSA9 following the hearing.

McGaffin said that so far this month, OUC has received an estimated 50,000 911 calls and an estimated 77% of those have been answered within 20 seconds or less.

Following months of public scrutiny and reports of alleged delayed responses to emergencies across the District, Pinto has introduced legislation that would require OUC to release after-action reports following emergency failures or errors. Members of Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration pushed back on the bill, including McGaffin. 

"The issues that we are having is protecting 911 callers and the very sensitive things that they call the 911 with and making sure that we are paying attention to those things, so we are not just releasing calls based on public interest," McGaffin said.

Pinto said she remains focused on working with the executive to draft a bill that meets with the concerns from District residents. 

"We are crafting a transparency law that does give the public the right to this information when they need it," Pinto said.

Employees at OUC who testified Wednesday also shared concerns about what they say is a lack of training at the 911 call center and issues with technology. Tracy Williams told the council the call taking system that was put in place this year has presented issues for her as a police call taker. 

"The new system is not beneficial to me as an MPD dispatcher, it's more geared toward the FEMS side. So, a lot of the things that I need, I am not getting, and I need to get the police out in a timely manner," Williams said.

McGaffin acknowledged the concerns from her team members and told WUSA9, "Ideally when we are at full staffing, we'll be able to have that training to happen when they're scheduled and not on off days will be a goal we continue to strive for."

Pinto's Bill that would require the Mayor's Office to provide emergency responders including 311 and 911 call takers and dispatchers free childcare on site received resounding support during the hearing.

The third and final oversight hearing for OUC will focus on issues with technology.