Similar to the problem facing fire departments and emergency services, 911 call centers in Pennsylvania feel a financial squeeze along with a lack of staff.

A joint hearing on Monday of the House Human Services and Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee heard from county officials, dispatchers, and labor representatives on where the pressure points fall on the 911 system.

“This hearing is about the safety and security of our communities,” said Rep. Jared Solomon, D-Philadelphia. He wanted to establish certainty that for “any Pennsylvanian who dials 911, that the system that we provide to Pennsylvanians is efficient, effective, and provides a timely response.”

Making sure that call centers have enough dispatchers is a leading, if not the ultimate, concern across the state.

Staffing challenges, according to a report by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, were “found to be the most pressing issue facing Pennsylvania’s 911 system,” said Stephen Fickes, deputy executive director of the committee.

Many call centers, Fickes said, had vacancy rates over 20%.

“We identified several reasons for this issue including telecommunicator pay that was below the national average, an inability to effectively recruit candidates, long official training requirements, staff retention, and burnout due to the high demands of the job,” he said.

Traditional areas of recruitment have quickly thinned out, leaving 911 leaders in a bind.

“I’ve been involved in the recruitment process in two counties now, and the old pools of volunteer firefighters and EMS … are disappearing,” said John Geib, director of emergency communications for Bucks County. “You have to get rid of all those sacred cows of ‘this is the way we’ve always done it’ and rewrite how the whole process (works).”

Classifying 911 workers as first responders, some argued, could help.

“There are many health implications from the stress of this job,” said Michael Steinmiller, a 911 dispatcher in Pittsburgh, who sent police to respond to the Tree of Life Synagogue mass shooting in 2018. “Oftentimes, the question of mental health is swept under the rug and the resources available to our colleagues in police, fire, and EMS aren’t guaranteed for 911 workers because we are not classified as first responders.”

Funding for the 911 system mostly comes from Act 12 of 2015, which created a monthly 911 fee on cellphone plans, but costs have outpaced revenue.

“In 2021, fee collections were $325 million. However, total cost of the 911 system was $441 million, for a difference of $116 million,” said Jeffrey Boyle, executive deputy director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. “Often, costs not funded by the 911 fee are the responsibility of local funding sources and county general funds.”

Staffing issues and equipment upgrades, as The Center Square previously reported, have driven up costs of the 911 system. The struggle to collect funds for Voice over Internet Protocol devices like Apple watches and other devices connected to the internet, has also been a problem.

While Fickes of the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee expected costs to rise in the short term due to equipment upgrades, he was “optimistic” that better service and efficiency would follow, lowering costs especially at the county level.