Posts Tagged ‘emergencies’
Question Asked: What Is The Average Response Time For A 911 Call?
According to an article in USAToday, the average response time is a highly debated (and often skewed) number. Many cities in the US report the amount of time it takes between answering the phone, and showing up at the scene the “response time.” While, in many cases, showing up on the scene isn’t where the actual response starts.
In many instances, it can take up to another twenty minutes for the person in need of attention to be seen. A specific example given happened at LAX, back in 2005. Fire trucks and EMTs showed up “at the scene” in about 7 minutes, plenty of time to save the life of the man who had a heart attack. They didn’t make their way through the airport, and actually see him until 23 minutes later. The man died. The “response time” on that call, however, was 7 minutes. The amount of time between when the 911 operator answered the phone, and the paramedics showed up at the scene.
However, based on knowing that fact, the average response time (we’ll say that this is just showing up at the scene of the incident) is roughly 5 minutes 30 seconds, based on the national average.
Of course, this number goes down in larger cities where there are multiple fire stations, and police stations and whatnot. In smaller, rural towns, where there’s sometimes only a volunteer fire department, the response time can be much greater.