Over 1 in 5 Columbia-Richland 911 calls went unanswered in 2025. Here's what to know

More than 84,400 emergency calls to the Columbia-Richland 911 Communications Center last year ended before an operator picked up. Residents who experienced delays during emergencies say their faith in the system has been shaken.

FULL STORY: ‘Just no one picked up’: 23% of Columbia-Richland 911 calls disconnected before answer in 2025

Here are key takeaways:

• Nearly 23% of 911 calls to the Columbia-Richland Communications Center ended before an operator answered in 2025, according to the agency’s own monthly reports. Callers waited an average of 24 seconds before disconnecting.
• The center had 22 open positions out of 102 as of early May, a 21.5% vacancy rate. Telecommunicator salaries are advertised as ranging from $39,024 to $48,780, and burnout has surpassed hiring as the top workforce issue nationally.
• National standards from the National Emergency Number Association call for 911 calls to be answered within 15 seconds 90% of the time. Columbia-Richland’s policy long required answering on the first ring and was updated May 11 to include the NENA standard.
• Residents shared harrowing stories, including a family that called 911 “at least” 10 times during a diabetic emergency and a woman who called 911 multiple times after a belligerent man refused to leave her hair salon.
• About 76% of abandoned calls were eventually “serviced” through callbacks or repeat connections within an hour, but records don’t show how quickly. Nearly 60% of the department’s 887,000-plus calls last year were non-emergencies handled by the same operators.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.