If you're in a situation that requires any sort of emergency assistance in Toronto, you should be forewarned that when you call 911, you may be left hanging on hold for quite a few minutes — and understaffing is no longer the only thing to blame.

The city has been dealing with a serious dispatcher shortage at its 911 call centre for well over a year, so much so that the Auditor General urged the Toronto Police Service to "review its staffing strategies and address challenges with staffing levels" that are impacting the ability to take calls and respond to urgent incidents in a reasonable time.

One resident told blogTO that when they called 911 just last week, they were shocked to be left on hold

The first time I called 911 and was placed on hold was a bizarre moment

— Alan Blair (@AlanRBlair) January 21, 2022

"Someone was breaking into my house at 3:30am and when I called, I was greeted with 'all agents are currently busy helping other callers ..... all agents are currently busy helping other callers ' for 3 minutes," Elizabeth Douglas said over email.

"When the police came I asked about this and he said that they are understaffed... I had no idea the city is understaffed for 911 operators. I can understand understaffing for police officers as their training and requirements are quite stringent, but understaffed for a call centre position seems bizarre."

I called 911 for the first time yesterday (to report a disabled vehicle on a highway that hadn't been able to pull all the way over to the shoulder and was blocking a lane of traffic). I was on hold for FOUR minutes!

— Eva Wong 🙋🏻‍♀️ (@eva_toronto) June 25, 2023

But, authorities say that the training required to man the phones for emergency calls and dispatch the appropriate personnel is actually extremely advanced and takes around 18 months to complete.

With a new budget now approved and more resources available, the force is in the midst of hiring a slew of new communication operators, which they say are "critically needed" at this point.

This is ridiculous 911 is a joke ..#toronto wake up how am I on hold for nearly 5min to report an emergency...this is a joke ...this city is really going down

— King kr8 (@DaRealKingKr8) May 5, 2023

But, there is another huge factor in the backlog and wait times: people who accidentally pocket dial the service, after which an operator is obligated to call back to make contact.

"In May 2023, the 911 call centre received an average of 6,500 calls per day (up from 5,200 calls in 2022.) Nearly 70 per cent of those calls were 911 calls, and almost 50 per cent of those were accidental," a spokesperson for TPS said.

"It takes operators a minimum of 90 seconds to call each person back, that is time that could be better spent responding to emergency 911 calls."

There's been a huge spike in Toronto 911 calls and butts are partly to blame https://t.co/46A3Gbll6u #Toronto

— blogTO (@blogTO) June 16, 2023

Along with spreading awareness of these calls made in error, police are reminding residents that there are other lines to call, depending on their concern.

"Keep 911 access exclusively for incidents that are an imminent threat to life or property. Every second counts in an emergency and we are committed to improving 911 wait times to ensure that we are there when Torontonians need us the most."