ST. LOUIS — Michelle and James Outman said they are stunned by the city’s response to delays and confusion they experienced while calling 911.
The Cape Girardeau couple was in town for a Cardinals game on July 28 when their 14-year-old son with special needs started having a seizure in their back seat.
The family now feels like the city is blaming them for the confusion and delays they experienced while trying to call for help rather than taking responsibility for its dispatching crisis.
“It's absolutely unacceptable,” Michelle Outman said.
“There it seems to be that there's an acceptance that their system is way below national standards,” Jamie Outman added.
The Outmans told the I-Team they called 911 three times and never got through to a dispatcher. National standards say 90% of calls should be answered within 15 seconds.
Police dispatchers are the first to answer all 911 calls. From there, the calls are sent to fire, EMS or remain with the police dispatcher depending on the situation. The city is short about 40 police dispatchers, and 10 EMS dispatchers.
In the face of a police dispatcher shortage, city leaders have implemented an automated system that asks callers to press a button depending on the type of emergency response they need – police, fire or EMS.
The recorded message caught the Outmans – and other families who have shared their stories with 5 On Your Side – off guard during some of the most terrifying moments of their lives.
“He’s a physician and I’m a college-educated mom, and we couldn't figure out how to use your automated system to get emergency help for our son,” Michelle Outman said. “You think the 85-year-old that lives with her husband is going to be able to get that when there's an emergency?
“Or the child whose been taught to call 911 if something happens when they’re alone?”
The I-Team requested a timeline of the Outman’s calls and a response from the mayor’s Public Safety Department.
The records show a dispatcher did pick up a fourth call the Outmans made – after Michelle Outman was on hold for 3 minutes and 31 seconds.
“The caller did not speak during the open 911 line which was open for 1.28 seconds. However, you can hear her in the background talking,” according to the statement.
The records show a passerby who called 911 used the automated system to be connected to EMS dispatchers. An EMS dispatcher answered 40 seconds later. And an ambulance arrived 14 minutes later.
“This incident is an opportunity to educate residents and visitors about how to most effectively use our Interactive Voice Response system as we work to modernize and upgrade it," according to Public Safety Department spokesman Monte Chambers. “A few key takeaways for residents and visitors to remember: Utilize our automatic system to help direct your call to the proper department, EMS, police, or fire – depending on your emergency.
“The passerby who selected EMS from the call menu was able to connect to EMS quickly. Do not hang up the phone and try to call back. This places the caller at the back of the queue. If a caller hangs up, the caller will receive an automated follow-up call.”
Jamie Outman said he remembers seeing an unknown number with a 314 area code pop up on his phone while he was tending to his son, who was throwing up and convulsing.
“I thought what a terrible time for spam,” Michelle Outman said, who was also holding her husband’s phone during the incident.
The Outmans captured part of the 911 callback message on their voicemail, and it asked them to push a button if they called the number in error.
“I think that’s an awful lot to ask of someone in that scenario,” Jamie Outman said.
“No one told me, ‘Help us on the way,’ and it just seemed to go on forever,” Michelle Outman said. “I felt like it was in the movie 'Groundhog Day,' where the same thing keeps happening and happening.”
There is a national shortage of dispatchers.
A new survey finds 82% of 911 workers across the country report their centers are understaffed, with operators and dispatchers leaving the job often emotionally spent and burned out.
In St. Louis, the dispatcher shortage has been happening for years.
Just months after taking office in 2021, Mayor Tishaura Jones vowed to make the city’s 911 dispatching crisis a priority, and her former Director of Public Safety said police, fire and EMS dispatchers would be under one roof within about three months.
Police and EMS dispatchers now operate out of the same center downtown.
Fire dispatchers remain at fire department headquarters.
And there are no vacancies among them.
“We pay them well,” said Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson. Starting salaries for St. Louis fire dispatchers are between $50,000 to $70,000 – the same as an entry-level fireman.
Supervisors can make close to $90,000 – the same as a fire captain.
“It's a salary that is very competitive and it leads to the fire dispatchers staying with the fire department,” Jenkerson said. “It’s a difficult job, and we view them as part of the fire department.”
Jenkerson also said he doesn’t see how combining the dispatchers in the same building will work if the dispatchers aren’t paid the same salaries. And, he says, moving everyone into the same building won’t help if there are still not enough dispatchers to answer calls.
The I-Team also surveyed surrounding departments and found St. Louis police and EMS dispatchers have the lowest starting salaries.
In St. Louis County, salaries start around $46,000.
In Jefferson County, it's $40,000 plus overtime and free family healthcare.
In St. Charles County, it's almost $50,000.
In St. Louis, it's $41,340 – and that includes the raise the mayor's administration pushed.
“It's not good enough,” Michelle Outman said. “They are so devalued in their pay and in their working hours. And just the way that obviously I mean they're being treated by the city.” “If you value something, you will put your money towards it.”
Correction: The City of St. Louis recently increased starting pay for police dispatcher trainees to $41,340 per year. A previous version of this story misstated the starting salary.
Timeline
Here is the full timeline of the Outman’s call from the Public Safety Department:
18:19:47
The first 911 call was presented at 18:19:47 and the caller hung up after being on hold for 50 seconds. The caller could have selected the IVR #1 for EMS after 20 seconds on hold; however, elected to stay on the line with the "Default" holding for the Police then hung up before a call taker picked up the call.
18:20:45
The second call was presented at 18:20:45 and the caller again hung up after being on hold for 58 seconds. Again, the caller could have selected the IVR #1 for EMS after holding 20 seconds. However the caller chose the "default" waiting for the police then hung up before a call taker would pick up.
18:21:01
-he third call was our system making a call back to the abandoned call at 18:21:01 and the caller fails to answer her phone.
18:21:48
The fourth call was presented at 18:21:48 from a passerby and this caller pressed the IVR #1 for EMS which was answered at 18:22:27. Medic 31 was dispatched from BJCS at 18:27 and arrived on scene at 18:35.
18:21:52
The fifth call was presented at 18:21:52 from the original caller who was on hold for three minutes and 31 seconds before the call was answered by the 911 call taker. The caller did not speak during the open 911 line which was open for 1:28 seconds however you can hear her in the background talking.
18:22:27
The sixth call is the IVR calling back at 18:22:27 and the caller did not pick up.
18:23:51
The seventh call was the IVR calling back at 18:23:51 and again the caller did not answer.
18:35:10
The eighth call was presented at 18:35:10 to 911, this call is from ST. Louis County PD, who's officer drove by the incident and contacted their dispatch to contact city ems. The call was transferred to EMS who was already enroute from the bystander call.
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