NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NBC NEWS)- When 16-year-old Tyrell Parker picked up the phone to call for help after his grandmother had trouble breathing, he expected a quick response.

Parker eventually got a response, after three separate calls.

"I was scared she was going to die because she was on the floor," Parker said.

Parker said he called 911 repeatedly, but no one answered the phone.

"It rang too long," Parker said.

At one point, relatives tried calling for help on their cell phones.

Eventually a call was answered after Parker said he pushed the emergency button on the home's ADT security pad.

The scenario is not uncommon according to a police communications official.

"It is possible that someone could call the phone and their response is delayed because we're handling another call," Lt. Morgan Tietjens said.

That morning, he said, emergency operators were assisting other callers before the call from Wilson's home was answered.

If someone calls and hangs up repeatedly, operators still have to answer the call to see no one is there before answering the next call, which in some cases may not be the original caller, Tietjens said.

Wilson, Parker and relatives blamed the incident on staffing, which Tietjens denied.

"If we had 10 call takers and 11 people called, that 11th caller would not get an immediate response if operators were assisting other callers for an extended amount of time," he said.

The time between the final call being answered and the time units arrived on scene was four minutes, Tietjens said, referring to a police dispatch phone log.

Tietjens said there was no definitive solution to the issue.

"I don't know how to alleviate that; that chance always exists."

Wilson is recovering at home.