The leader of Tulsa’s understaffed 911 center says things are improving.
Tulsa 911 Director Terry O’Malley said citizen complaints about long waits on the phone and rude dispatchers come down to inadequate staffing. At its worst in 2016, 40 percent of 911 calls were answered within 10 seconds. The national standard is 90 percent.
So, the 911 center made some changes.
"What I’m seeing is we’re keeping people, they appear to be happier, they’re doing a better job, and we’re just going to continue with what we’re doing," O'Malley said.
The 911 center has worked more closely with the police department, achieving national accreditation. The public safety tax has created more positions to fill, training has been beefed up and 911 center leaders have worked with city human resources to improve conditions.
"We’ve got buy-in from them for bettering progressions, better salary, better recruiting, better hiring practices," O'Malley said.
The improved hiring process is lowering turnover, putting more people on the phones. That process now includes a psychological evaluation to see how potential dispatchers respond to stress.
"The way you handle stress is going to make or break how well you do — how well you execute the job and how long you last," O'Malley said.
O’Malley said it will take 100 trained dispatchers to meet the national standard of answering 90 percent of 911 calls in 10 seconds or less. There are currently 63, but that’s more than last year and 20 are currently in the hiring process.
So far this year, the lowest rate of 911 calls answered in 10 seconds or less has been 62 percent.
