Yakima - The city's ambulance services are called to accidents like that every day. But there are some emergency calls that could keep them from getting there fast enough. They're coming from "habitual callers". People who may not have a real emergency, but 911 is the first number they dial.

William Woodcock is the President of Advanced Life Systems, " They're calling the system because they, in their minds, need help."

On average, 911 dispatch says there are a handful of people at any given time in Yakima County they dub as "habitual callers. And they get their calls anywhere from once a week, to multiple times a day. 911 policy dictates they always dispatch an ambulance. And some people abuse that policy.

" We have street people who call in the winter, because they want to get some place warm and they found out the system works that way," said Wayne Wantland, Yakima County Dispatch Director.

But not all those habitual callers are abusing the system. Some of them may be hypochondriacs, others are just lonely.
And it's up to the dispatcher and paramedic to know exactly what's needed.

Wantland said, " They develop a relationship with our people and listen to what they have to say and maybe we find some other resources for them. "

" They could be like comprehensive mental health, adult protective services, it could be any number of people. Sometimes we need to get the person's family more involved with them," said Woodcock.

And that could free up paramedics to deal with more life threatening emergencies, and save taxpayer dollars. The problem here isn't as wide spread as it is in some other cities, but it does still take resources away from the fire department and ambulance companies.

Wantland said, " There may be other emergencies that get delayed because those sources are tied up."

Next year the director said he plans to better educate the community on when it's right to call 911 for help, and what other options are available. The hope is it will put an end to those who make 911 just another bad habit.

The dispatch director said about 20% of the calls come from people who don't have an emergency. It's just that we're trained, even as young kids, to call 911 when we need help.