Veteran dispatchers came to tolerate the misuse of emergency lines for non-emergency calls, but as a new dispatcher filled with idealism and righteous indignation, I was disgusted with the blatant and careless abuse of the 9-1-1 system. I immediately initiated my campaign to identify and correct the wrong-doers.
“9-1-1, What is your emergency?” I said in my most noble superhero type voice.
“Well, this isn’t an emergency, but . . .” came the reply.
"Sir,” I said – cutting him off. “These are emergency lines, and they need to be reserved for emergency calls.”
I gave him the non-emergency number three times as he broke the pencil lead, had a pen that ran out of ink, and then used a crayon.
The non-emergency line rang. As the only calltaker, I picked it up. It was of course the same caller.
“Public Safety this is Scott,” I answered in a more congenial, less intense voice.
“I think my wife is having a heart attack.”
“. . .”
Abandoning the campaign at this point seemed like a pretty good idea.
BAH! You need to have a separate blog for all of the these great stories! So many people would love these! I think you are on to something here...
ReplyDeleteWhoops. Not an emergency?!?!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, people don't know what an emergency is? Or he really didn't like his wife?
ReplyDeleteThat's one of my favorite stories.
ReplyDeleteOne of the nuances of answering 9-1-1 calls that you should quickly discover is that older people don't like to be an inconvenience. There have been examples of spouses waiting overnight to call for help after husbands pass away. They just don't want to get anyone out of bed.
ReplyDeleteI quickly adopted the Octoganarian Rule which says that any application of other rules is suspended when the caller is older than 70. (I know - it should be Septuagenarian Rule - it sounds better my way.)
Wow. Wow oh wow. I like your new rule. But seriously, "not an emergency"?
ReplyDelete