The District’s 911 call takers will be given 10 times the amount of training they previously took on local geography, in response to reports from the public for sending first responders to the wrong address in some incidents.
DC’s Office of Unified Communications has been facing such criticism for years.
The Office’s interim director Cleo Subido announced the update within the system during a DC Council oversight hearing last week.
“The OUC prioritizes taking the steps necessary to learn and improve when mistakes are made,” Subido said. “We have enhanced geography-related training and increased related required hours for all new employees from 16 hours to 160 hours.”
It stems from the mistakes of 911 call takers when firefighters and paramedics are sent to wrong the address almost 40 percent of the time, according to Subido.
Subido also stressed that anyone who calls 911 should provide the entire address accurately to save time even though they will verify it.