NEW ORLEANS — The Orleans Parish Communication District (OPCD) today announced the “Don’t Hang Up” campaign to help residents and visitors who require a public safety response, especially during Mardi Gras.
If any person is in need of emergency help, call 9-1-1. OPCD’s emergency communication specialists will connect that person with the appropriate emergency services, whether that be the New Orleans Police Department, New Orleans Fire Department, New Orleans Emergency Medical Services, Mobile Crisis Intervention Unit or other responders.
“More than 250 abandoned calls (hang ups) happen each day,” said OPCD Executive Director Karl Fasold. “Our specialists call back every single abandoned call; however, those callbacks don’t happen until all emergency calls in the queue have been answered. Calls in the queue are answered and processed as quickly as we can. We know better than anyone that in these moments, seconds matter. That’s why we urge you to stay on the line and don’t hang up; you’ll speak to a specialist faster, and we can get help on the way.”
If an individual calls 9-1-1 and doesn’t receive an answer immediately, don’t hang up. Stay on the line because all calls are answered in the order they are received. When OPCD is experiencing a high volume of calls and a specialist is not available immediately, the call goes into the “queue,” and the caller will hear a voice announcement that provides this information. The call moves up the queue as the caller stays on the line. As soon as the call is next in the queue and a specialist becomes available, the call is answered.
If a person hangs up and calls back, that person will lose all progress that had been made on the previous call – and that first call could have been next in the queue to be answered. When a caller hangs up the phone, the request for help starts waiting again at the beginning of the queue when they call back.
Original source can be found here.
