Response
Responses to calls in Baltimore
When thinking about response times most people will immediately think - what responses can I expect if I call the emergency services? The same as anywhere in the USA if you dial 911 in Baltimore you’ll get an immediate response from the operator enquiring which emergency service you require. Responses to police emergency calls are, of course, dependant on the availability of staff to deal with the problem and possibly vehicles to get them to the incident needing help. Like may other cities now, you can dial 311 instead of 911 - if the incident isn’t urgent and the level of responses you need to your call aren’t at the level of an emergency. In turn this helps the emergency services responses to full emergency calls, making sure that staff aren’t unnecessarily involved in relatively minor matters.
In a bid to make their responses to emergency calls safer and in an effort to increase their ‘green’ credentials; the Baltimore Fire Department has its own levels of responses to 911 calls. Responses are determined to be hot, warm or cold - according to how much of an emergency the call is deemed to be. Anyone making a 911 call and making it clear that a property is on fire will get a hot response, according to the Fire departments responses list. Whereas, a call stating that someone only suspects a fire, might only be met with responses that were warm or even cold. The different levels of the responses - reflect the speed with which the fire departments trucks will move through traffic and whether or not sirens and lights are used.
Responses to 311 calls put through to the Baltimore City Council will be dealt with as promptly as possible. However, don’t be surprised if some responses take longer than others for a formal visit to be made - if one is required. The reason for this is quite simple in that some of the city’s services are in far greater demand that others and some do require more rapid responses than others. eg. Probably everyone expects an immediate response to an enquiry about a missed mixed refuse collection, whereas they’d be quite happy for slower responses to a faulty car parking meter report!