SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – Chatham County residents may experience quicker 911 response times soon. The county is adding a non-emergency call center to relieve the current call center of non-emergency calls.
Several people who live in Chatham County have reached out to News 3 with complaints about 911 response times or the call center leaving them hanging altogether.
Fifteen percent of 911 calls to the Chatham County Emergency Center were abandoned in 2023, according to E911 Deputy Director Russ Palmer, and about 30 percent of their call volume is non-emergency.
“If we can get rid of that 30 percent and free up our staff, that’s kind of been the effort that we put in for it,” Palmer said.
Some of the details, like the phone number to call, are still being worked out. E911 Director Diane Pickney says emergency calls are time-sensitive.
“Calls where a person requires assistance with CPR or childbirth or stopping the bleed… those kinds of calls warrant the communications officer to stay on the phone with the caller until a unit arrives on scene, whether it be police, fire or EMS. Those kinds of that could be maybe 10 minutes,” Pickney said.