As Durham considers outside help to handle 911 calls, records show that sometimes causes problems

As Durham continues struggling to handle 911 calls, some officials are calling for the city to adopt a mutual aid agreement with another emergency communications center.

WRAL has reported for months about how staffing issues at the 911 center have caused problems for Durham residents needing help. For a time, some 911 calls had to be routed to the Raleigh-Wake 911 Center because Durham didn't have enough people to handle them. That arrengement ended June 1.

Durham City Councilman Mark-Anthony Middleton asked city staff last month about returning to such an arrangement to help the beleaguered 911 center.

"I can’t imagine governing a city where folks are calling 911 and they’re not getting a response," Middleton said during an Aug. 19 council work session. "I think that’s an emergency situation that requires immediate attention. I don’t care if it’s Chapel Hill or wherever who can help us until we get the staffing."

But city records obtained by WRAL News show routing 911 calls through an outside agency has led to confusion and delayed responses in the past.

First responders were delayed in getting to a person threatening suicide, for example, and an incorrect address sent them to the wrong side of the city for an emergency call.

"This absolute FAILURE of [the Durham Emergency Communications Center] caused a 15-minute delay in … intervention! It also makes responders feel like … failures!” one first responder noted in the city records.

Middleton said Tuesday that he knows city leaders are working to improve operations at the 911 center.

"We know that anecdotally and in some documented cases there have been a lot of issues with our 911 center," he said. "We know that we’re not where we should be ... but I’m also going to give them time to ... do the work that they said needs to be done."

Although nine positions at the 911 center have recently been filled, more than a quarter of the jobs there remain vacant, according to the city.

"[E]fforts focus on bringing additional staff from city and other agencies (Fire, EMS and Police) into our center to expand our ability to take calls," Durham spokeswoman Beverly Thompson said in an email to WRAL News. "[That] is the best way to address call volumes and improve call answer times."

The International Association of Firefighters Local 668, the union representing Durham firefighters, wants a mutual aid agreement as soon as possible, even with the problems that have occurred in the past.

"With Raleigh's assistance, at least the 911 calls were answered," a union representative said in a statement. "That's the first step in getting someone help."