Calling the sheriff...

[Larry Gude]

...so, I'm heading downtown Fredneck this am and about to get off on 85 and a homeless guy is walking across exit traffic ahead of me and I'm like 30 cars back, two lanes, everyone is MOVING and I figure I'm about to see someone die. Everyone is paying attention for some reason or all are caught up on their messages at the same instant and there is no carnage. By the time I get up, the dude is working down onto I70 shoulder, walking East.

I started to stop but lotta traffic up my ass so, onward I go. So, I figure this is worth a call but not a 911 deal. So, I call, get transferred to dispatch and for the next 5 minutes I'm playing 20 questions.

"Just drove past a guy in rough shape, seems pretty out of it, crossed traffic on 85 ramp, oblivious to traffic, walking along the shoulder of 70, eastbound, under 85"

"85 goes under 70, sir, not over."

Did not say "No, that would be 270, son..."

"Oh, wait, OK, I see, you mean 70..."

"Yes"

"Your name?"

I used my screen name.

"Phone number please?"

gave it

"Ok, so, are there any weapons?"

"No idea, I just drove past...older guy, looks homeless, dark cloths, stocking hat, hands in pockets, walking along 70 east shoulder..."

"Does he have any medical conditions..."

".........unknown at this time...I don't know him...."

"What is his race?"

Did not say "Human"

"Looks like a white guy, hard to tell going past, pretty rough looking, dirty..."

"What is he wearing?"

Did not say "A ####ing bumper if we don't get this out to a unit..."

"Dark dark pants,, dark sweat shirt, stocking hat, hands in pockets, pretty out of it..."

"A stocking hat?"

".......dark...."

"Ok, well, we have another call about this so, we'll get right on it, thank you...."

Did not say "It's probably him wondering what he has to do to get picked up..."

 

[Ken King]

Good thing he didn't ask if you were driving, he may have given you a ticket.

 

[Bay_Kat]

I hate that so much, I called 911 a couple of weeks ago after a guy on a motorcycle in front of me plowed into the rear of the stopped car in front of him, he was literally up under the back of the car. My husband was on his bike in the lane next to me and he went to help the guy out and another guy got out of his car to help, everyone else just drove around the whole mess.

Anyway, I called 911 the first thing I said was "motorcycle accident at x and y and the guy looks to be hurt bad", the call taker is asking a million questions. I told him, "you know what the problem is and the location so I sure hope you've dispatched someone and then you can ask the questions". It took 20 minutes for the first cop to get there and 10 more for the ambulance and they are only 2 miles away. I was so mad. The guy is going to be okay, but his buddy that was riding next to him saw what happened and took off. We didn't know them, but it was just crappy all the way around. We have a huge EMS station with about 20 ambulances there at any give time, plus they have staging areas all over the county where they hang out. Their response time should not be that long.

Like you Larry, I wanted to say certain things, some of the questions he asked had nothing to do with what was going on. I know they read off a script or some book, but dang, the guy could be dying and every second counts.

 

[Larry Gude]

Good thing he didn't ask if you were driving, he may have given you a ticket.

I thought about that and decided I could explain that one if I were to be pulled over. Plus, at that point I was like, good if an officers shows up, because other wise, dispatch has volume II of War and Peace to talk me through...

 

[Chris0nllyn]

I saw a dump truck roll on its side one day in Suitland.

I called 911 and got a busy signal.

A ####ing busy signal.

 

[Ken King]

I saw a dump truck roll on its side one day in Suitland.

I called 911 and got a busy signal.

A ####ing busy signal.

Did you try #77?

 

[Chris0nllyn]

Did you try #77?

No.

 

[bulldog]

You're a smart dude. Surprised that you start sentences with "so" as much as you did her.

Just an observation...at a pet peeve of late.

 

[Bay_Kat]

You're a smart dude. Surprised that you start sentences with "so" as much as you did her.

Just an observation...at a pet peeve of late.

Wasn't me this time.

 

[Larry Gude]

You're a smart dude. Surprised that you start sentences with "so" as much as you did her.

Just an observation...at a pet peeve of late.

So, it's interesting you should say that because I have had occasion to have conversation with an unusually large number of new people of late, meeting interactions so, not just social interactions. I notices that a lot of folks start answers that way; "Let me about that..." "So...blah blah..."

 

[Dakota]

I worked 911 back in the 80's and we knew better. We'd tell you to hold on a second, dispatch officers to your location and see what else you knew after we had officers enroute... now they train with scripted call cards and it takes away common sense.

 

[Bay_Kat]

I worked 911 back in the 80's and we knew better. We'd tell you to hold on a second, dispatch officers to your location and see what else you knew after we had officers enroute... now they train with scripted call cards and it takes away common sense.

I did it in the mid 90s and typed while I was talking, got the call out and put the rest in once the response was sent. He may have done the same, but the rapid fire questions were too much.

 

[Larry Gude]

I worked 911 back in the 80's and we knew better. We'd tell you to hold on a second, dispatch officers to your location and see what else you knew after we had officers enroute... now they train with scripted call cards and it takes away common sense.

That was my perception, that the dispatch person has a script they must adhere to. It's part of the growing drive, I presume, to quantify and record EVERYTHING these days so it can go in some program so it can become some app so it can yield some information product that someone else can use to justify something else under the guise of 'better' information, 'better' control, 'better' management. I see it in company after company and I suppose the police department is best understand as that, simply another company. I had a meeting not too long ago where there were 8 people; one potential vendor, me, and 7 people up and down a chain from GM to assistant GM to TWO customer service reps two a distribution guy two yet a third customer service person. I can see how they are all busy all the time...meeting with one another to keep one another up to speed on one anothers goings on.

 

[Larry Gude]

I did it in the mid 90s and typed while I was talking, got the call out and put the rest in once the response was sent. He may have done the same, but the rapid fire questions were too much.

It makes the caller instantly question getting involved. I was in fact driving and I was like "Look, dude, I'm not supposed to be on the freaking phone to begin with and I just wanted to make the call, and hang up, do a good deed. Not have to play 20 questions while prolonging being on the phone..."

 

[Bay_Kat]

It makes the caller instantly question getting involved. I was in fact driving and I was like "Look, dude, I'm not supposed to be on the freaking phone to begin with and I just wanted to make the call, and hang up, do a good deed. Not have to play 20 questions while prolonging being on the phone..."

I agree. In your situation you were driving, probably couldn't pull over safely. I wasn't but still, I wanted to get off the phone and help my husband with this guy. We keep a huge medical bag in the back of our Jeep just in case. This isn't the first time we've rolled up on something like this and with their response time, it's a good thing because no one else would stop except for the one guy, but he just made sure people didn't run over us.

 

[Dakota]

That was my perception, that the dispatch person has a script they must adhere to. It's part of the growing drive, I presume, to quantify and record EVERYTHING these days so it can go in some program so it can become some app so it can yield some information product that someone else can use to justify something else under the guise of 'better' information, 'better' control, 'better' management. I see it in company after company and I suppose the police department is best understand as that, simply another company. I had a meeting not too long ago where there were 8 people; one potential vendor, me, and 7 people up and down a chain from GM to assistant GM to TWO customer service reps two a distribution guy two yet a third customer service person. I can see how they are all busy all the time...meeting with one another to keep one another up to speed on one anothers goings on.

That is exactly why they do it.

In the old days, they would want stats on various things and we'd have to hand pull the reports and count, now they can get all that out of the computer.

Even in the job I have now, the requirement to document every single detail slows us down incredibly.

 

[glhs837]

I've wondered about that, can you all them to fast track the call.... Just name the data field, I'll say it and we can move on fast.... None of the conversational fillers. Not, "Okay, sir, could you tell me where you are", but " Location "

 

[lucky_bee]

if I were to be involved in a similar situation to BayKat's...where it's obvious we needed EMTs and police immediately...what do they do if I were to not answer their questions and just scream "Biker down, head trauma, I need an ambulance and police NOWWW at such and such location" and hang up? :shrug:

That's a legit question I've always had, not trying to sound like a smart ass. Assuming they still dispatch someone?

 

[Larry Gude]

if I were to be involved in a similar situation to BayKat's...where it's obvious we needed EMTs and police immediately...what do they do if I were to not answer their questions and just scream "Biker down, head trauma, I need an ambulance and police NOWWW at such and such location" and hang up? :shrug:

That's a legit question I've always had, not trying to sound like a smart ass. Assuming they still dispatch someone?

The fastest way to get cops to respond is "Shots fired, officer down..."

 

[MMDad]

if I were to be involved in a similar situation to BayKat's...where it's obvious we needed EMTs and police immediately...what do they do if I were to not answer their questions and just scream "Biker down, head trauma, I need an ambulance and police NOWWW at such and such location" and hang up? :shrug:

That's a legit question I've always had, not trying to sound like a smart ass. Assuming they still dispatch someone?

Depending on the agency, the call taker may not be the dispatcher. While you are talking to them giving details, a dispatcher is on the radio sending units. Notice how all the cops have computers in their cars now? All of these little details can go to them so that they have the information they need.

If you give them the information and hang up they will respond. But if you don't give the information they need the response may be inadequate. Or they may send too many units, taking them away from someone else who may need it.

And they ask everyone the questions the same way because they have to deal with the lowest common denominator. They have no way of knowing if you are educated and trained or if you are the average Walmart shopper who forgets to breathe when they are distracted, so they ask the questions the same way for everyone. They have SOPs which guide their questions because the "experts" tell us that SOPs fix everything. The dispatchers job is not to try to interpret Larry's frantic hysterical call and figure out what he's trying to say, it's their job to ask the questions and record the answers.