The hot temperatures are fueling 911 calls for medical and fire issues.
Over 4,000 911 emergency calls come into the Los Angeles Fire Department’s call centers on a daily basis according to the LAFD.
Now the heat is generating more calls but fire officials say they are ready.
“Call takers take calls from all over the city and they send it to the dispatcher which is me or metro fire or rescue and we dispatch them,” Omar Rodriguez, a firefighter dispatch, said.
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Rodriguez is a firefighter dispatcher and is the first line of contact to field crews during a 911 emergency.
Rodriguez is one of several responding to fire or medical emergencies within the 470 square miles in the city of Los Angeles at the Metro Fire Communications near downtown.
On Tuesday NBC4 got a first hand look at the operations which according to fire captain Erik Scott is unlike others because callers get a real life firefighter with real life-saving experience. He says staffing normally beefs up over fire concerns.
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“When we have the wind component in the fall months with Santa Ana winds we add resources on the ground in key areas that are prone to wildfires,” Scott said.
As Southern California continues to battle high temperatures, LAFD says they have seen an increase in 911.
If you compare last week to the same week in June, LAFD says they responded to about 100 additional calls to the roughly 4,000 daily calls.
“It’s difficult to quantify a 911 call that the true origin is heat related, because it can come in as a general sick call or a traffic accident related to someone who had an illness or a diabetic call because of an underlying medical issue,” Scott said.
Rodriguez says while it can be rough to stay grounded during any emergency call, his biggest challenge is a simple detail people tend to forget.
“The address is the number one most important thing for us. As long as we get a valid address we can send resources there no matter what the incident is,” Rodriguez said.
LAFD says people can help minimize the calls that come in during hot days by doing things like staying hydrated and avoid being outside during peak hours of the day. Doing so they say helps put the focus on other emergencies.
