A man died of a heart attack after his distraught wife called emergency services but was placed on hold for 15 minutes.
Tanya Gotcher was left devastated after coming home to find her husband Cassy slumped on their kitchen floor in Texas in May earlier this year.
She immediately called 911 after suspecting he had suffered a heart attack but was put on hold for around 15-20 minutes.
In that precious time her husband of 30 years was waiting for an ambulance he tragically passed away, Mrs Gotcher revealed to CBS Austin.
She said: “The phone just ringing, and ringing, and ringing. When you hear the phone ring for 15 minutes and you can’t get to anybody to help you is the worst nightmare that you could have."
The tragic story was revealed during a campaign ad for Travis County judge candidate Rupal Chaudhari as the state battles with chronic staff shortages.
Due to staffing shortage at the 911 emergency call centre in Austin there have been numerous incidents like Mr Gotcher's as the state battles a backlog of calls.
Austin City Councillor Mackenzie Kelly revealed nearly half of the emergency call centres are under-staffed.
In addition, out of the 75 operators needed there are only 19 currently in place, as the councillor confirmed callers were waiting on average two-and-a-half minutes to get through to a 911 emergency responder.
According to the national average, 90% of calls should be answered within 15 seconds but only around 64% of calls in Austin were picked up in that time.
There has been an urgent campaign, according to Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon, to try and fill the roles including offering incentives to make the job more attractive.
He said they wanted to raise wages and include bonuses to try and help incentivise new employees after too many jobs remained unfilled amid concerns the job demands put people off.
Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly said to Fox: "I have requested a briefing to discuss compression, pay, vacancies, [and] answer rates at the Emergency Communications Center.
"Our dispatchers and call takers deserve to work in an environment that allows them to provide the highest level of service possible.
"Austinites deserve a timely response and adequate staffing at the 911 call centre and I look forward to determining the best pathway forward for our community."
The city of Austin also promised to raise wages to help 911 call takers and emergency responders as part of a nationwide ploy to recruit and retain more staff.
In a statement they revealed: "The City of Austin is planning to make salary adjustments leading to more pay for some existing 911 Call Takers and Police Dispatcher staff to address pay compression that resulted from the recent Living Wage increase.
“These efforts, combined with stipends and the development of a Citywide recruitment campaign, support the retention of existing employees and aim to assist in filling staff vacancies at Austin Police Department’s emergency call centre.”
