Q&A
B-HEARD response times compared to other emergency services
2:10:46
·
179 sec
Council Member Mercedes Narcisse inquires about B-HEARD response times, which average about 20 minutes, and asks what can be done to decrease them to match other emergency services' 8-11 minute response times. Chief Cesar Escobar provides a detailed explanation of the 911 call categorization process and why mental health calls may have longer response times.
- 911 calls go through a categorization process to assign the right resources
- Mental health calls often have lower prioritization than life-threatening emergencies
- B-HEARD teams do not respond with lights and sirens, leading to longer response times
- The extended response time allows for dispatching specialized teams to appropriate calls
Mercedes Narcisse
2:10:46
Alright.
2:10:50
No cost.
2:10:51
Yeah.
2:10:51
Alright.
2:10:55
At times, we heard response times have averaged about 20 minutes.
2:11:00
What can be done to decrease the be heard, respond times to match the approximate 8 to 11 minutes for other emergency services.
Cesar Escobar
2:11:15
So thank you for that question.
2:11:16
So I'll give you a little context.
2:11:19
So our all calls that come into the 91 system have to go through a categorization process
Mercedes Narcisse
2:11:27
You're talking about 9 911?
Cesar Escobar
2:11:29
Yes.
Mercedes Narcisse
2:11:30
Okay.
2:11:31
That's it.
2:11:31
I'm gonna
Alex Brass
2:11:31
Yes.
Mercedes Narcisse
2:11:32
Okay.
2:11:32
Great.
Ebony Washington
2:11:32
Yes.
2:11:32
On that too.
Cesar Escobar
2:11:33
All calls that come into the 911 system go through a categorization process.
2:11:37
Because we are 911, we respond to life threatening emergencies, and we have to provide the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
2:11:49
And part of that involves us asking a lot of questions during the interaction with the caller to properly categorize this call so that the right resources are assigned.
2:12:04
Unfortunately, some of the mental health calls that come in because the way we categorize our 911 calls will have a lower prioritization than, for example, a cardiac arrest or an unconscious or a baby choking.
2:12:24
So because of that, some of those mental health calls are dispatched after we dispatch all the medical emergencies that we have to respond within minutes.
2:12:37
So that is one of the reasons why some of the mental health response calls have a little bit more of an extended response times.
2:12:46
But we we understand that we are trying to get the specialized teams that have additional training to the most appropriate calls.
2:12:56
And sometimes that means that we need to take a little more time to dispatch these units.
2:13:02
In addition, because we categorize these calls, to a certain priority, the teams do not respond with lights and sirens, and they do not respond like our traditional ambulances responding to cardiac arrest and life threatening emergencies.
2:13:20
So that is also why they would have an extended response.
2:13:26
But we know that getting these specialized teams to these mental health emergencies is very important, and we take great pride that our teams are specially trained and get to these calls still quicker than some other services offered for mental health emergencies.
