Members of the Wilson County Emergency Communications “911” District Board discussed policy at during its meeting.
The meeting came less than a month after NewsChannel 5 spotlighted concerns about the county's 911 call system.
The county's 911 system was referred to as antiquated, and was criticized by law enforcement and a former official who said lives have been lost because of it.
Former Wilson County 911 director, J.R. Kelley said, “Maybe years ago in someone’s mind it made sense to operate this way but not in today’s world, not in today’s technology. There’s a better way."
The issues focused on how many times a 911 caller may be transferred to another agency before receiving any help.
Anytime someone dials 911, their call goes first to the 911 call center. Those call takers are not dispatchers, they have no ability to help. All they can do is transfer calls to police, fire, the Wilson County Sheriff, or Wilson County EMA.
Every single call must be transferred. In calls obtained by NewsChannel 5, some callers were forced to repeat the same vital information multiple times as precious seconds ticked away.
