Misuse of 911 is stretching Beatrice first responders past their limits

BEATRICE, Neb. (KLKN) – Beatrice Fire & Rescue is sounding the siren as crews are being stretched thin by increasing 911 calls.

Fire Chief Brian Daake said calls for service are growing year after year.

“You know, really, 911 is supposed to be used for life-saving emergencies,” Daake said.

But he said multiple calls coming in don’t fit that criteria.

About 30 years ago, he said there were around 1,700 calls for service per year.  Now, crews might respond to more than 3,000.

But the population has stayed at about 12,00 throughout that time.

Daake said there have been a lot more calls for mental health problems and elderly people falling down.

He said while those are important, the calls can take away from true emergencies.

And Daake said some people are using 911 for completely wrong reasons.

“People are calling 911 because they need directions, and that’s not what it’s there for,” he said.

Daake said when there are too many calls at once, first responders have to pick and choose what is more urgent.

Beatrice Fire & Rescue has five ambulances, but Daake said during a normal shift, there are only enough crews for three.

He’s asking people in the community to come together to help solve the problem.

“Just think about if this is a true emergency or not,” Daake said. “We’re trying to be Midwest nice and get help as quickly as we can. But at some point, we’re just going to run out of resources, and folks will have to wait.”