'We want you to stay on hold' | DC 911 answers to massive computer glitch and promises corrective action

WASHINGTON — Stopping short of saying, ‘I’m sorry,’ Director of the Office of Unified Communication Heather McGaffin offers her condolences to the family of the 5-month-old infant who died while the family waited 17 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at their home.

“Losing a child is unimaginable. Our call takers did everything they could in those moments to reassure and offer guidance in that time,” said Director McGaffin.

But McGaffin admits there were mistakes they are working to correct. 

The computer-aided dispatch failure is now the cause of an investigation. Police are trying to determine if the now-fired contractor was criminally negligent when he pushed a change through the entire system instead of just a handful of devices. We learned there have been 18 system disruptions since December, six disruptions in the last three months. Officials said the underlying cause is outdated hardware.

“The system for a number of years has had equipment updated there's a significant capital project that we have in our budget for the fiscal year starting October 1,” explained City Administrator Kevin Donohue. “So as soon as OCTO identified one of the root causes being old equipment that for different reasons had an effect on our 911 system, we advanced OCTO the money to initiate that project right now."

Another systemic problem is staffing. Although OUC said they have 63 people finishing background checks for 22 open positions, unscheduled call-outs have put a strain on staffing levels and forced others to fill in with mandatory overtime, a practice McGaffin hopes to change.

“When you’re here for 12 hours you’re taking about 70 to 80 calls when we’re adding hours on to that the risk of mistakes happening in those extra hours certainly increases,” said McGaffin.

“Yes, there is a bit of a challenge at times getting phones answered and we want you to stay on hold during that time, but I have confidence in the OUC,” said DC Fire Chief John Donnelly.