911 is a joke!
Jenn's blog on the phantom 911 calls from the cell phone brought back some memories for me. I spent 12 years as a dispatcher for police and fire. Part of doing the job is answering 911 calls. All 911 operators take their job very seriously, however the citizens often misuse and abuse the 911 system. It's as if they think it is a joke.
The 911 emergency response system is for immediate emergency situations. However it's often used for routine calls. All police departments have a direct line for routine calls but people often dial 911 because they don't want to wait for someone to answer. While the citizen is one the line telling us that someone is speeding in their neighborhood, a heart attack victim could be desperately trying to dial in for help.
Some of the abuses I've had to deal with over the years:
A woman dialed 911 because her toilet was overflowing
Several people will dial 911 during a power outage to report that they have no electricity
Children and adults alike have dialed 911 during an argument as a threat against a parent or spouse
People have called to report a pet missing
People have called after a crime has been committed and the responsible party is long gone
Store clerks have reported shoplifting and gas drive-offs
Residents have reported alleged speeders
As a dispatcher I will say that it is annoying in the extreme to drop what you are doing to answer 911 and get a routine call. But more importantly it is a danger to your neighbors who need emergency assistance to be placed on hold while the line is tied up with things that should have been reported on an administrative line. Please follow the following guidelines for 911 calls
There is a serious crime in progress (Battery, Assault, Domestic Violence, Kidnapping etc)
There is a medical emergency (Heart Attack, not breathing, bleeding etc)
There is immediate danger from fire or other environmental hazard
If there is not immediate danger, use the administrative or call reporting line for your local emergency services agency. It could save a life,
The 911 emergency response system is for immediate emergency situations. However it's often used for routine calls. All police departments have a direct line for routine calls but people often dial 911 because they don't want to wait for someone to answer. While the citizen is one the line telling us that someone is speeding in their neighborhood, a heart attack victim could be desperately trying to dial in for help.
Some of the abuses I've had to deal with over the years:
A woman dialed 911 because her toilet was overflowing
Several people will dial 911 during a power outage to report that they have no electricity
Children and adults alike have dialed 911 during an argument as a threat against a parent or spouse
People have called to report a pet missing
People have called after a crime has been committed and the responsible party is long gone
Store clerks have reported shoplifting and gas drive-offs
Residents have reported alleged speeders
As a dispatcher I will say that it is annoying in the extreme to drop what you are doing to answer 911 and get a routine call. But more importantly it is a danger to your neighbors who need emergency assistance to be placed on hold while the line is tied up with things that should have been reported on an administrative line. Please follow the following guidelines for 911 calls
There is a serious crime in progress (Battery, Assault, Domestic Violence, Kidnapping etc)
There is a medical emergency (Heart Attack, not breathing, bleeding etc)
There is immediate danger from fire or other environmental hazard
If there is not immediate danger, use the administrative or call reporting line for your local emergency services agency. It could save a life,
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Comments (13)
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
To save a few pennies. You have the proof that saving a few pennies is not worth it. The highway patrol in Florida actually beat everyone else to the punch with the central dispatch thing. All of the Florida panhandle is dispatched out of Tallahassee. There's somewhere in the neighbor hood of seven counties divided into "districts". Since FHP did not really have offices they would often stop by some of the local departments to wash their cars, fax paperwork or have us run information for the
Wendy7
Direct line is great and it worked swell
That is what we used to have. All we did was call emerg and they dispatched. No errors No wrong addresses and right town to boot
It was when they switched over They (NIMBY"S) thought it would be best LOL
Jerks Why change something if it ain't broke
Wendy
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
Wendy I was not happy with the central dispatch point thing either. But the reason they have gone to this system in most cases is to catch the "medical" calls. All ambulance calls require special training because of the medical issues.
Many other agencies such as Highway Patrol and State Police have found that 911 can save money by using a central dispatch and have moved to that type system also. The problem with Central dispatch is exactly what you described. The dispatchers are not fami
Wendy7
Our 911 service here truly sucks
First off to implement it they made everyone in town change their house numbers. Stupid is all I can say Poor old people still don't what number they now live at LOL
Second is Our 911 calls our now dispatched out of Toronto (14 hours away) Makes complete sense to me (grrrr.........)
Third when you do make a call (like someone a week ago) They have never heard of our Town (go figure) North to them is Barrie (10 hours away)
Fifth After call was made they sent t
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
I can understand children calling 911 for silly stuff but an adult dialing 911 to find out when they are going to get power. I never knew the light company was part of the 911 system. And to think that anyone is worried about turning on their lights in the middle of a category 3 hurricane is just asinine.
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
You'd be surprised. The one that always irked me the most was having idiots call wanting to know when the lights would be back on in the middle of a hurricane!
Not Here8
just want my account deleted
Good Grief! I though it was pretty cut and dried when it came to using 911...you know like an actual emergency...someone dying or something like that. Toilet overflowing????
Jennifer Underwood11
Promoter
I do have a funny story about. I have taught all my kids about calling 911.
But my oldest son...took it to extremes...when he was 2 he called several times.
He taught me how to also teach when NOT too call for my other children.
LOL.
They would send law enforcement anyways..to make sure there was not really any problems. Alot of embarrassment there a few times.
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
In Florida you can be criminally charged for abuse of 911. Although we never actually charged anyone most people weren't aware they could go to jail. The ones who learned about the law rarely abused the system after that. I'm positive that other states have laws regarding the misuse off 911 also.
Jean DAndrea7
Retired
Used to work for the Govt. telecommunications here in Melbourne.
In Australia, they take the emergency calls on 000. We also used to
get lots of abuse calls. And some just used the number because
they felt like abusing someone, and it was free.
The admin calls were not, so maybe they were just saving the cost
of a call, at the cost of someones life.
Theresa6
Perfect example of thinking of no one but themselves, on the part of the people.
thanks cheryl for posting this!!
Jennifer Underwood11
Promoter
Thank you for this post. I could just imagine some of the calls that are placed.
911 is not a joke...and should only be called for emergencies only!!!!!