Non-emergency calls bog down Mahoning 911

YOUNGSTOWN — Walter Duzzny, Mahoning County emergency management agency director, is urging the public to call 911 only for real police, fire and medical emergencies.

Duzzny said 911 dispatchers have been bogged down with many non-emergency snow-related calls pertaining to such things as driveways that need to be plowed or people who need transportation to work or shopping. “It just consumes a lot of time that they can better devote” to emergency communications, he said.

The emergency dispatchers not only take 911 calls, but they also communicate with police, fire and ambulance crews, he noted.