911 operator suspended for sleeping on the job

Every second counts in an emergency, and that single second could mean the difference between life and death.

There was a time in South Africa when 10111 emergency calls weren't being logged or recorded for six months at the Durban 10111 call centre because the equipment was out of order.

The logging and recording of emergency calls is not only necessary for quality control, but could offer vital clues when investigating crimes.

The Durban emergency call centre had then come under fire for ignoring what they believed were hoax calls – but which were real cries for help after a South Coast woman was ignored by police. 

Read: Police are searching for robbery suspects in Umhlanga

She called 10111 and was hung-up on before several armed men stormed her home and threatened to kill her daughters.

In another incident, while a Mount Edgecombe restaurant was being robbed by a gang of armed men, a waiter made a call to 10111. The operator supposedly instructed him to call the local police station and ended the call.

There must be a load of 10111 calls that are handled correctly, but it seems that complaints come in about emergency lines in other countries too.

A police dispatcher has been suspended after being caught sleeping on the job!

She has not only been caught sleeping behind her desk more than once while at work, but is also heard snoring on a recorded 911 call.

You hear the lady asking if the caller needs police, fire or EMS, but a few seconds later, you can hear loud snores coming from her end of the line.

Apparently, the police dispatcher took ten seconds to answer one call and then 40 seconds to transfer the caller to firefighters about a burning stove.

Have you called an emergency line in South Africa?

How long did it take for the call to be answered and did you have a good or bad experience?