Mayor blasts 911 hold times, shares traumatic story of newborn in ICU after parents sit on hold

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas shared a dramatic story of a family sitting on hold with 911 desperate for help during an at-home delivery.

Lucas wrote that the family gave permission for him to share the information and picture of their young son, who is in the ICU. The picture shows the baby hooked up to oxygen and other medical equipment.

Here is the full message sent to the mayor:

“On the 31st of August I gave birth to our son at home with our midwife. When his head was out, we realized he was stuck. It took over 6 minutes to get him out and when he was out he wasn’t breathing. My midwife’s assistant called911 THREE times and we were out on hold each time. It took my sister calling my dad, who was in Overland Park, calling 911 to get any paramedics to our home at 92nd & wornall. We waited over 17 minutes while bagging and doing compressions on my newborn son. During that time I hemorrhaged and lost over a liter of blood. We both almost died. Our son has been in the NICU for the past 6 days without a real timeline on when we will come home now. I feel like this is completely unacceptable & should NEVER happen to anyone else. If y’all would like more info my husband and I are an open book and willing to tell our entire story. We just want to enact change so that no family ever has to go through what we did.”

Lucas said he will address 911 hold times on Tuesday at the Police Board of Commissioners meeting.

“Someone answering the phone when you call 911 has to be a basic thing we deliver. The year’s long crisis is absolutely unacceptable. It’s long past time the Board take action to address,” Lucas posted.

It’s unclear what changes the mayor is calling for. 911 hold times has been a continued problem in Kansas City. The mayor’s own family sat on hold in a medical crisis on May 24, 2023.

911 hold times

The Kansas City reality is if you call 911 you will wait on hold longer than nationwide standards which say 90% of all calls should be answered in 15 seconds and 95% of calls answered within 20 seconds.

ALSO READ: Kansas City expected to pay family $4 million in wrongful death lawsuit regarding 911 phone call

Data for KCPD reveals the average hold time for August was 51 seconds. The day the family called needing help on August 31st was 1:10 seconds. Records show someone sat on hold for more than nine minutes that day.

Reaction to the Mayor’s social media post was immediate. People expressed shock and heartbreak for the family but many shared stories of sitting on hold.

One woman wrote about seeing a man who appeared to be considering jumping off a bridge. She claims she sat on hold for 20 minutes.

A father shared he needed help for his special needs daughter and sat on hold. He writes it would have been faster to drive themselves. “We won’t call 911 next time,” is how he finished his post.

A Midwife posted she educates her clients it’s generally faster to get in the car and go to a hospital than sit on hold with 911. She writes of driving a woman with heart attack symptoms to the hospital as she called 911. She claims she arrived faster than her hold time.

This year, the average hold time for 911 is 41 seconds for 2024. The worst month was July with 52 seconds.

Here’s how previous years compare:

ALSO READ: Mayor Lucas continues quest to combine KCPD, KCFD dispatch offices

If you’ve experienced a long hold time on 911 email us at investigate@kctv5.com.

How to help

KCPD reports there are 25 open positions out of 95 total positions.

13 people are currently being trained but more help is needed.

“We are always looking for those who want to serve their city. It is a challenging yet rewarding career opportunity, where you are truly the first responders anytime a citizen calls 911. There is a $2,500 hiring bonus currently offered for all professional staff positions,“ said Sgt. Phil DiMartino.

ALSO READ: Kansas City’s 911 system getting a $1.5M upgrade, but issues aren’t solved

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