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If you call 911, you expect someone to answer quickly and send help. But that system is strained these days by a shortage of dispatchers. The problem has grown worse during the COVID pandemic. In Washington, some State Patrol dispatch centers have a vacancy rate over 50 percent. And one office got so short-staffed it had to close.
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Washington state's attorney general wants to know if emergency response was delayed to anyone during a nearly statewide 911 outage late last month. The…
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When you call 911 from a mobile phone, software at the carrier and dispatch center triangulates your location. But in places where cell towers are widely…
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A new statistic from Washington state illustrates a problem 911 dispatch centers throughout the Northwest grapple with. About a third of 911 calls in…
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In an emergency, the last thing you want to hear is, "I can't understand you." The reality is emergency dispatchers in the Northwest generally speak one…
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This week, the four biggest mobile carriers met a voluntary deadline to be ready to allow consumers to text to 911. But don't try that in an emergency…