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Officials for the 911 emergency services in both Norfolk and Virginia Beach are telling residents if they make a call for service and the line continues to ring, they’re placed on hold or are greeted by an answering machine, don’t hang up.
Not only will the caller lose their place in the queue, but the already short-staffed dispatchers are required to spend valuable time calling back the missed caller, said Margie Hobbs, a recruiter at Virginia Beach’s Emergency Communications and Citizen Services divisions.
“If a caller dials 911, even if it’s by accident, it’s important to remain on the phone to let the call-taker know you’re okay,” she said. “If you hang up, it ties up the call-takers because they have to call back until they get an answer to advise the caller is okay.”
