Having a cell phone handy can be a life-saving tool during an emergency, or so I thought.

The week before the semester began, my car was in a collision off the freeway in West Sacramento. I used my cell phone to dial 911 and, expecting to get the emergency operator, I received an automatic voice telling me to press numbers for certain options. I finally got to the option I needed and was directed to a live voice. It amazed me that an emergency phone number would actually have the same kind of service as Bank of America.

According to the Los Angeles Times, in 2007 the longest wait for a 911 emergency phone call in California was “47 minutes in the Ventura area, 27 minutes in the Los Angeles area, and more than 16 minutes in the Bay Area.” The national time limit in which a 911 call should be answered in California is 10 seconds.In an emergency situation where my life is at risk and every second counts, waiting 47 minutes for an operator definitely does not meet the standards nor would it save me.

So why the delay? In California, 911 calls made by an individual on his or her cell phone go through to the California Highway Patrol call centers. According to Bay Area news station KTVU, CHP said, “Cell phone users who dial 911 for non-emergencies – seeking, for example, traffic or weather information- are partly to blame.” So unknowingly when someone is stuck in traffic on the freeway and calls the CHP to figure out what’s going on, the caller might in fact be putting another individual’s life in jeopardy.

In order to prevent delays for emergency 911 calls through cell phones, the state’s Department of General Services is working to shift more calls to local services and agencies like police and fire departments. Would shifting calls to other emergency services be the appropriate action to take? I don’t think this would result in a resolution – it would only divert the problem to other locations.

Cell phones can be useful and important tools when it comes to catastrophes and emergencies and it’s important that people can efficiently use them when needed. No one should have to wait 47 minutes for an ambulance or police officer to reach them.

Anna Torres can be reached at [email protected]