On Jan. 15, emergency operators put on hold residents, who were trying to report what became a fatal house fire in Dupont Circle for over two minutes. Records show there were 13 emergency operators on duty at the time, but it is not clear why calls reporting the fire were not answered. The failure of the system that morning has yet to be explained. For a city and police chief that have made emergency preparedness their main priority, not to have any answers for a flawed 911 system is unacceptable.
Within the past two months, the D.C. City Council and D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Charles Ramsey have investigated the Jan. 15 incident, but their lack of definitive action is alarming. Ramsey reported that of the 13 operators on duty that morning, only six were answering calls. Furthermore, only one operator was responding to reports of fire or medical emergencies. However, since this incident nothing has been done to hold anyone accountable or take corrective measures.
This indifferent response by the Police Department is perplexing. For any emergency system to work, the first step is reporting—a fire department cannot perform its duty without knowing where to go. In the case of a terrorist attack, a quick and proper response from 911 operators would be the first step in the District’s emergency response plan. A system failure if such an event occurs would be a crucial setback to the entire operation.
Whether the unanswered calls are an issue of understaffing, poor training or apathetic operators, the system needs reform. The District needs to fundamentally address the problem, if that means hiring more operators or holding current staff more accountable. Promising to get to the bottom of a specific incident is not the same as correcting underlying flaws in a system.
When people dial 911, they expect and deserve a prompt response. Ensuring that 911 calls are answered quickly is a matter of life and death, as this recent example unfortunately shows. The District’s emergency preparedness cannot be taken seriously if the 911 system fails to respond properly to a simple house fire.
