Spring Break
911: used and abused
Or call someone who cares
J.D. Lewis
Issue date: 5/28/08 Section: Opinion
Also, when calling 911, the first thing out of your mouth should never be "How are you doing?" If you are calling 911, yours or someone else's life and/or property should be in grave danger; a roaring blaze should be consuming everything in sight; or you or someone else should be in agonizing pain and/or close to death. In any case, the welfare of the dispatcher is not germane to the situation, nor should you care who answers so long as someone does.
"Who's speaking?" is another frequent response to "911." Tell me what that has to do with anything? If straits are so dire that I need to call 911, I really don't care to whom I am speaking as long as they send me some help.
More than once a shift, a dispatcher is treated to "Can I ask you a question?" You just did. Another response is, "This might be a stupid question…" If you feel compelled to say that, then it most likely is. Someone may be trying to call the police while hiding in their closet from an axe murderer, and you're tying up the 911 line with a question you know is stupid to begin with.
The 911 number, being for emergencies only, is apparently a mind-boggling concept.
Webster defines an emergency as "an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action" and "an urgent need for assistance or relief."
Per Webster, none of the aforementioned constitutes an emergency. Other occurrences such as reporting larceny days after the fact, and car accidents from two weeks ago (because your insurance company wants a report), are not emergencies either.
Finally, though I could write an entire book on this subject, the most annoying fingernails-on-the-blackboard response to "911" for a dispatcher is, "I hate to bother you…"
Then don't.
This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com
"Who's speaking?" is another frequent response to "911." Tell me what that has to do with anything? If straits are so dire that I need to call 911, I really don't care to whom I am speaking as long as they send me some help.
More than once a shift, a dispatcher is treated to "Can I ask you a question?" You just did. Another response is, "This might be a stupid question…" If you feel compelled to say that, then it most likely is. Someone may be trying to call the police while hiding in their closet from an axe murderer, and you're tying up the 911 line with a question you know is stupid to begin with.
The 911 number, being for emergencies only, is apparently a mind-boggling concept.
Webster defines an emergency as "an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action" and "an urgent need for assistance or relief."
Per Webster, none of the aforementioned constitutes an emergency. Other occurrences such as reporting larceny days after the fact, and car accidents from two weeks ago (because your insurance company wants a report), are not emergencies either.
Finally, though I could write an entire book on this subject, the most annoying fingernails-on-the-blackboard response to "911" for a dispatcher is, "I hate to bother you…"
Then don't.
This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com
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