Council hears that a small number of repeat 911 callers have generated hundreds of ambulance responses; chiefs call for hospital coordination and outreach

Mobile City officials told the City Council that a small number of residents have generated hundreds of 911 calls and repeated ambulance transports, straining fire-rescue resources and prompting staff to seek stronger coordination with hospitals and community partners.

District Chief Parker of Mobile Fire-Rescue told the council that the department has tracked concentrated use by one individual going back to 2019 and continuing into 2024 and 2025. “We have a duty to respond,” Parker said, and described repeated transports and efforts to find alternative supports.

Why it matters: repeated transports can tie up emergency resources, produce liability concerns if the city were to refuse a future call, and may indicate unmet behavioral-health or social-service needs that hospitals or community providers could help address.

Parker gave examples of high call volumes for a single person: since February 2019 the department recorded about 750 calls tied to one individual; in 2024 that same person generated roughly 299 calls, of which city units transported the patient about 94 times and private services transported that person at least 85 times. So far in the current year, Parker said, the individual had received roughly 90 calls with about 86 transports by city units. “We’re not refusing anybody service,” he said. “At any point, if somebody calls 911, we’re gonna show up, we’re gonna be professional, and we’re gonna make sure that we provide them the service that they require.”

Councilmembers and speakers pressed staff for possible fixes. A councilmember suggested public education campaigns and partnering with hospitals to explain appropriate uses of 911 and transportation options. “This might be an opportunity…to team up with hospitals to really educate the general public about what a transport really is,” one councilmember said, urging PSAs and other outreach.

Staff noted legal and practical limits on withholding response. Parker said the department has on occasion worked case-by-case with frequent callers and with hospital and vendor partners such as AltaPoint to arrange mental-health or social-service intervention, but he cautioned against a blanket policy of nonresponse because of liability concerns.

Next steps: staff told the council they will continue case-level interventions, pursue coordination with hospital medical control and AltaPoint for mental-health follow-up, and prepare information for upcoming meetings. Councilmembers asked administration to return with additional options for outreach and non-duplicative supports for frequent users of emergency transport.

Ending: council discussion signaled interest in both short-term public education and longer-term partnerships with hospitals and mental-health providers to reduce repeat ambulance transports while preserving the city’s obligation to respond to 911 calls.