Emergency Services

Emergency medical service providers throughout Oregon are sounding the alarm about workforce shortages in their field.

The agency has been around since the early 1980s but was housed under other agencies including the State Police and the Military Department. Lawmakers approved the change with broad bipartisan support during the 2021 legislative session.

An OPB investigation shows in the month after Portland's Bureau of Emergency Communications launched new software, 911 hold times surged. Dispatchers repeatedly told leadership at BOEC that the software was a bad idea and, after it was implemented, they have repeatedly warned their work is being hampered.

Officials with the Portland Fire Bureau say the current system is wildly inefficient, clogging up emergency rooms, straining the 911-system and driving up health care costs. On Wednesday, fire bureau officials announced they’re trying to change the status quo with a new type of first-responder program.

A city-commissioned evaluation of Portland Street Response says the program, which dispatches a team of unarmed first responders to non-emergency mental health and homelessness calls, should be expanded citywide.

Portland Fire Chief Mike Myers and Brad Lee, who directs the Reno area's medical emergency response, tell us about innovations in 911 service.

How can Portland's emergency response improve? Should the left lane on the highway be restricted to passing only? Then, we talk with hip-hop artist Dahlak Brathwaite.

People in parts Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington can now send text messages to 911 — just don't send emojis, photos or videos.