ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — The daughter of the McKeesport Shop n’ Save manager who was attacked and robbed while closing this past weekend says he called 911 several times before getting an operator.
EMS leaders told Target 11 that the victim listened to a recording for 57 seconds during the first call he placed to 911 before hanging up.
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Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs told Target 11 that at the time, there were 15 operators on duty dealing with 22 emergency calls.
Alvin Henderson, chief of emergency services for Allegheny County, said when someone is put on hold and gets a recording when calling 911, he should stay on the line.
“We do not put the call on hold. It goes into that queue as a first in, first out arrangement,” he said. “The message tells you we're dealing with a high volume of calls, and it'll be answered by the next available call taker.”
In other words, when someone hangs up and calls back, he is placed at the “end of the line.”
“Our goal is to answer calls in 10 seconds,” Henderson said. “When you're in the darkest hour of your life, 10 seconds seems like an eternity, 20 seconds seems like a lifetime and a minute is even beyond that.”
A Target 11 investigation also uncovered that calling 911 centers on cellphones can cause extra delays, especially if multiple people are calling in the same emergency.
As for the robbery victim, he’s was doing OK Tuesday evening.
Three teenagers were arrested in connection with the crime Monday night and were all charged as adults.
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