Dallas to increase staffing at PSAP after 911-related deaths, agrees alleged ‘ghost’ calls not the problem

After blaming T-Mobile “ghost” calls for months of delays in answering 911 calls—delays that reportedly contributed to two deaths last week—the city of Dallas yesterday acknowledged that the problem was caused by people hanging up and redialing when their emergency calls were not answered in a timely manner. Staffing at the public-safety answering point (PSAP) will be increased and technological enhancements will be implemented to address the situation, according to a press statement from the city.

Yesterday’s press release followed lengthy meetings during the past two days between Dallas officials, T-Mobile and the city’s other public-safety-communications vendors. Since November, city officials had claimed that the 911 response delays were caused by high call volumes to the PSAP—a circumstance attributed to T-Mobile subscribers making “ghost” calls, in which a phone automatically dials 911 repeatedly after making an initial legitimate call.

After meeting with T-Mobile engineers on Wednesday and Thursday, Dallas officials agreed that “ghost” calls were not causing the call-volume spikes in the PSAP.

“T-Mobile has clarified that the calls that were gathering in the queue were not ghost calls, but abandoned calls,” according to the city of Dallas press release. “Ghost calls happen when a person’s phone makes repeated calls to 911, unbeknownst to the person. Abandoned calls happen when a caller hangs up before reaching a 911 call-taker.

“To address this, beginning this weekend, the City is adding a dozen additional call-takers per day to ensure an enhanced level of service until this issue is fully resolved. We are also pursuing technology upgrades. To further assist the call takers, T-Mobile has made adjustments in its network to smooth the delivery of calls to 911.”

Multiple news outlets reported that the Dallas PSAP’s answering queue indicated that there have been periods when hundreds of calls in the queue appeared to be waiting to be answered, with hold times exceeding 30 minutes. One of those occasions was Saturday night, when 442 emergency calls were put on hold for an average of 38 minutes, according to a report by a Dallas TV station.

On Saturday night, March 11, the adult caring for 6-month-old Brandon Alex called 911 seeking help as the baby struggled to breathe. The caretaker—who did not have a car—called 911 three times, hanging up each time after not getting an answer, according to news reports. The first call lasted 51 seconds, the second lasted 9 minutes and the third lasted 31 minutes, according to news reports.

When Bridget Alex—Brandon’s mother—returned home after receiving a call from the caregiver, she drove Brandon to a hospital, but the child died that night.

Bridget Alex has blamed the problems within the Dallas 911 system for her son’s death. On Wednesday, engineers for T-Mobile traveled to Dallas for the first time in an effort to identify the cause of the problems that city officials said have been plaguing the Dallas public-safety answering point (PSAP) since November.