On 04 Dec 2021, No COVID Lies <bob7duncan@gmail.com> posted some
news:sog6jo$tgc$94@news.dns-netz.com:

> Democrats murdered this woman.

In the midst of the storms that punished St. Louis Saturday afternoon and
night, a woman sat in her car that had been crushed by a tree. She was
dying.

Neighbors tried calling 911. They called for 30 minutes, they said, but
could not get through. The 33-year-old woman, who had recently moved to a
new apartment in The Grove district, died in her parked car behind the
apartment building.

�This is not a new problem. This has been going on for years. When you
call 911, you almost never get through. You either get a busy signal or
you get put on hold,� said Helen Petty, who owns the Chopshop hair salon
on the other side of the alley.

Petty said her employees called her around 4:10 p.m. Saturday to say water
was coming in and that they had lost power at the shop, which faces
Manchester Avenue. The tree that took out the store�s power was also the
one that hit the woman�s car, Petty said.

By the time Petty arrived at 4:45 p.m., the fire department was working to
get the woman out of the car. But neighbors told her they had tried
frantically to reach the emergency number for a half-hour before that, to
no avail.

One man who runs a neighboring restaurant told her that the victim was
responsive when he and others began calling 911. That man was not
available for comment Saturday or Sunday.

The city has had problems with its 911 system for years.

Police records obtained by the Post-Dispatch in 2021 revealed that the St.
Louis police department�s 911 dispatchers were delayed in responding to
nearly one-third of all emergency calls made in the city in 2020. Staffing
shortages were blamed, and interviews with former and current employees
showed they believed the department did not act on memos calling for the
hiring and retention of workers to be prioritized.

Since then, the problems have only worsened.

In 2021, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones pledged to reduce 911 delays in
the city. But in 2022, 40% of callers were put on hold for at least 10
seconds, and some waited 10 minutes or more.

The minimum industry standard, as established by the National Emergency
Number Association is for 90% of 911 calls to be answered within 10
seconds.

�The last time I checked, it was close to 50% of the 911 calls� were put
on hold, said Alderwoman Cara Spencer. �It�s truly, truly terrifying.�

�They�ve been kicking the can on this issue for far too long.�

Officials in the mayor�s office and the Department of Public Safety did
not answer requests for comment.

Spencer said the city should combine 911 systems for police, fire and
emergency medical services, so that all three types of calls can go into
the same system in the same central office. And the office needs to be
fully staffed, she said.

�There are times when you have one or two dispatchers for entire half of
the city, and that is truly inadequate,� she said.

�It is nothing short of terrifying when you call 911 and you get a
recorded message saying �All operators are busy, please stay on the line.
Someone will be with you shortly,�� she said. �I know it by heart.�

Spencer said she has nothing but sympathy for the 911 dispatchers who work
in a very stressful environment. They do the best they can, she said, but
the work can be overwhelming.

Petty said, �I place the blame with our governor who just signed a line
item veto to fund the 911 system in our area.�

On Friday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson cut $23 million from the state budget
that would have paid for new police and 911 facilities in St. Louis.

�With this budget, our administration has done the right thing � the
conservative thing � to make strategic investments and maintain
responsible spending,� he said at the time.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/overwhelmed-911-call-
system-may-have-cost-storm-victim-her-life/article_d3a1153e-1929-11ee-
8bbb-4b1e2eb4849b.html