A Wake County family says they were placed on hold Saturday morning after calling 911 while their daughter was having a severe allergic reaction from eating a nut.
Heather Bussios took to social media to voice her concerns after the incident. She tells WRAL her husband called for help and was answered by an automated message advising him to wait on the line.
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After getting put on hold, the Bussioses say they decided to take their 15-year-old daughter to the nearest hospital themselves as her allergic reaction worsened.
After John Bussios hung up, he says the 911 system kept calling back asking to him to remain on hold. He claims the back-and-forth calling last approximately 10 minutes.
Both Bussios parents say each second counts when dealing with a possibly life-threatening reaction.
"If she ever were to have a reaction like that, how can I rely that 911 would be there to answer?" said John Bussios. "At this point it'd be like, 'Get in the car. I'll call 911 and let them know that you're on the road.'"
WRAL has asked Raleigh-Wake 911 about the incident, including why a caller would be placed on hold and what people in critical situations should do if they are placed on hold.
A message on Raleigh's emergency communications website says the center implements an automatic acknowledgement on 911 calls during periods of increased call volume. The system informs callers they've reached 911 and asks them not to hang up.
According to the City of Raleigh, the pre-recorded message says: “You have reached Raleigh Wake 911, please, do not hang up. We are experiencing higher than normal call volume and your call will be answered by the first available 911 operator, please do not hang up.”
A city spokesperson confirmed that volume was high on Saturday morning when the Bussioses' call came in. City data shows they waited on hold for 62 seconds before hanging up.
"When a resident calls 911, we know they have an urgent need," said Julia Milstead, public information officer for the City of Raleigh.
"Our goal is to assist them and dispatch appropriate resources as quickly as possible. Sometimes, high call volume occurs, and we choose to keep those calls at Raleigh-Wake 911. The alternative is to send calls to another 911 center, which would likely cause a further delay in dispatching resources for the caller.
"Raleigh-Wake 911 receives more than 800,000 calls each year. We generally exceed the National Emergency Number Association standard of answering 90 percent of calls within 10 seconds."
She noted that on the day that John Bussios called 911, 96 percent of calls to 911 were answered within 10 seconds.