911 systems choking on non-emergency calls

Amen!

Everyone with a bleeding heart about how its not fair to charge people unless it can be absolutely fair that its somewhat of an emergency, well, just remember that when its YOUR familys turn to need 911 and operators are busy answering your stupid, screwed up idea of an emergency 911 call, then we can talk. I am a retired 911 calltaker of 24 years, and you will never know, the public will never ever know the real number of stupid stupid calls we would get on 911 from stupid stupid people who have no common sense. They are either tooooo cheap to call 411 for a non emergency number, or just plain have never paid attention to the fact that their community may have a 311 number for non emergency calls. And dont get me started on the common sense that one doesnt have to call police anyway even for non emergencies on the non emergency line. You want a phone number????? call 411. You want your cell co number???? call 611 or 411 for the number!!!! You want food???? That doesnt even warrant a response! STOP CALLING THE POLICE FOR GARBAGE BECAUSE YOU THINK THEY ARE THE END ALL FOR INFORMATION, AND STOP CALLING 911 FOR NONSENSE BECAUSE THE DAY WILL COME WHEN YOU WILL NEED THEM AND THEY WILL BE BUSY PUTTING YOU ON HOLD BECAUSE THEY ARE ANSWERING SOMEONE IDENTICAL TO YOU WHO IS CALLING FOR GARBAGE JUST AS YOU HAVE DONE IN THE PAST. It is impossible to think that you wont get put on hold at some point when you consider the ratio of people in a community to the number of people who answer the phones in a 911 center. DO THE MATH PEOPLE!! Most departments dont even staff their centers with the correct ratio of callers to population as they do when staffing for police officers.
So to help your community out, go right now and look up the non emerg phone number for your community, and put it on your cell phone. And no there is no secret phone number that you can call that will get you straight to a dispatcher to dispatch your call.
I would invite any citizen to contact their local police department and tour your 911 center, ask questions, and if possible ask to be an observer for a week. Go ahead. You have no idea the contrast of calls that will be received until you hear them. One has to laugh almost because its so pathetic the lack of common sense on part of the general public's part. Just because you pay taxes doesnt give you the spoiled rotten right to demand anything you want on 911. Thats why there are state statutes in some states, for charging people with a criminal act of calling 911 for false emergencies or for fun.

That's true... in Miami we have (305)4-POLICE. That is a non-emergency number to call for NON EMERGENCIES. People are so selfish and lazy. They call the police because they think they'll get faster service... Like the Scripture at 1 Timothy 3:1-5 says, " [...] people will be self-assuming, haughty, ... not open to any agreement.... lovers of themselves..." , it's kind of hair-raising to see Scriptures fulfilled before your very eyes...

Patty,
In regards to the child in the street, is that really an emergency?
That kid would be hit before they would arrive. Get off your ass and get that
kid out of the street ASAP. Then call the non-emergency number or take the
to a safe place!

I live in the North County area of San Diego and when I called 911 from my cell phone about 2 years ago to report a very very drunk or drugged driver, this guy was the WORST I had ever seen (signs all over the roads 'Report drunk drivers call 911') I was put on hold for 25 min. BTW a recording places you on hold "I'm sorry but all lines are busy. I would have hung up after 5 but I just wanted to see how long it would take for them to actually answer. I then learned that cell phones are NOT treated as emergency calls and are placed again and again at the back of the line. The calls actually end up at the California Highway Patrol catchall dispatch center after waiting on hold what seems like forever, then you tell them your emergency THEN they will connect you with 911, if your still alive.

Yes, I agree charge people for misuse, fine people, make them serve community service, what ever.

I heard an old man in Target call 911 insisting they come to change his depends because he pooped in them. Ok it was really funny, but a ridiculous waste 911 system too.

Although I believe cell phone calls should receive same priory as land lines after all in this day and age some people only use their cell phones

That is a terrible idea to call 911 and hang up and then expect them to call you back. Your calls are answered in the order received. If you hang up and they are still receiving 911 calls, those calls will be answered before you are called back. That is they type of thing that ties up the emergency lines, people like you, who don't know how to use them. I am a dispatcher and I can not tell you the number of stupid calls I get. However, most of the time I am the only one here. Yep, you got it, 1 person answering the phone and radio, both emergency and non-emergency lines, and running all computer checks for all the officers. 1 person. Do you really think that I have time to call you back immediately if I have 4 other 911 lines ringing? The answer is no. I have to answer all the calls and then go back to call you back. Keep that in mind with your little system that you think will get you through faster. The operator may have just went to pick the line back up when you hung up, and now she has to wait for the line to redial, which is not as instant as you may think. Keep in mind that all people should also have the numbers handy to their local police department as well, sometimes there are different call-takers for the regular lines and you may get through faster. However, if it is a true life-threatening emergency then 911 should always be the first call you make. And always remember, the police are there to respond to emergencies and genuine police related matters, no to fix your hamburger or make the refuse company come and haul off your trash.

Cora I understand your frustration being a 911 call taker and many times the only one but you are not understanding or listening to these folks story about how they do actually call 911 for an actual emergency only to be put on hold for long periods of time. You are spending all your time dealing with these idiots that are calling for non emergencies but maybe you should be talking to your boss about why there is only 1 operator. So what is your advice for these people especially the woman you slammed for hanging up and waiting for a call back? 911 almost seems like a joke when a person is put on hold for 25 minutes, it almost makes you say forget it I'm not waiting my minutes on 911 when they are only going to put me on hold forever.

It is very interesting to hear that 911 doesn't respond as they should to cell phone calls like they do land lines. Like someone said earlier, most people don't even have a land line anymore.

In any case people in big cities have been saying that 911 is a joke since the late 80's early 90's so I can only imagine how horrible it has become by now and that is so sad. I think these people should be fined for making prank calls to 911 especially the guy that called 2600 times, that's just wrong, and the old guy at Target...the police should have came and arrested him and made him sit there in his soiled diaper. He wasn't out of his mind he was being a rude old guy probably bitter b/c his nurse left him. I know that may sound uncaring for elderly people but seriously when have you ever seen a police officer changing a grown man's diaper? He couldn't have been slow or had "old timers disease" otherwise he wouldn't have even thought to call 911 let alone remember the number.
I have seen plenty of older people (living in Florida) that are just bitter and cruel and call the police for stupid stuff thinking they are right. For example this old guy was trying to park in the spot next to my friend and he apparently couldn't see and hit my friends car as we were standing right there watching him, when he got out we told him he hit the car and showed him where his paint was still on my friend's car. He insisted we were lying and trying to set him up so he calls the police and we all stand there and wait. When the police arrived we explained and showed the cop the visible paint marks from his car and the big dent. The old guy still insisted we were wrong and calls 911 AGAIN with the cop standing right there! So he got mad and got back in his and hit our car AGAIN right in front of the cop! We were just amazed at this bitter old man! Needless to say he was arrested and charged.

I have never put a 911 call on hold for more than probably 30 seconds. If the other line is not an emergency then they are directed to call another number or disconnected. If the first caller stays on the line then it it picked right back up. I am sure that in very large cities that they can not get to all the calls as quickly as smaller departments. I live around the Kansas City area and have dispatched for 2 different agencies. When a call is transfered to KC you may get a recording saying to hold for the calltaker. However, that being said, I have never transferred a call that took longer than a minute or so for a person to answer or have ever gotten a busy signal. I did not know that you could get a busy signal when you called 911, I thought you would get a recording if all the lines were in use. But you should also remember that when you hang up and call back then your call goes to the end of the que. If there are 15 other people listening to the recording they are now in front of you. Best policy is to always stay on the line for a reasonable amount of time, and any calltaker worth having will know which calls can be placed on hold and which can not. A drunk driver (however dangerous) is not as important as the person who has just been shot, or the person who can't breathe, or the disturbance in progress.

Patty25;
You are unfortunately an example of someone who thinks they are using the 911 system correctly. You said you made 3 legitimate 911 calls.
#1- you didn't need to call 911 for a child wandering alone in the street. Go get the child and then call the non-emergency line for a police officer.
#2-when responding to an Amber Alert there is usually an 800 number to call.

I've worked as an ER nurse for over 10 years and I also see the end result of the abuse of the 911 system. The EMS personnel can not refuse to transport someone who calls 911 and you'd be amazed at how many people call for non-emergency reasons & then boast that they called 911 so they would be seen in the ER faster than if they just drove in.

And don't even get me started on the abuse of the ERs in this country!!!! I am currently working on my Master's degree and did research of the amount of abuse of the ERs in this country. I can't remember the exact number, but studies showed that something like only about 30% of all cases that go to the ER truly needed to go there.....meaning that 70% could have waited and seen the family doctor the next day. Then people get angry and cuss at the ER staff because they have to wait to be seen. What do you expect?????

Christine, I disagree. Teach your children that the phone is not a toy. If the child is too young for that lesson, or old enough but forgets as they so often do, then put the phone where they cannot reach it. I realize parents cannot keep an eye on their children every minute of the day, nor should they, but there are solutions to such a small problem. I'm not going to be very forgiving of the child or the parents if I or someone else needs to get through to 911 for a real emergency such as a heart attack and get put on hold because someone's child is playing with the phone.

I would have to disagree as well. I am a dispatcher and when a child calls they usually stay on the phone, which means that a line is tied up for several minutes while an officer responds. Most of the time the children are 7,8,9 years old. And let's face it, 9 year old children know that calling 911 because they are grounded is not an emergency. People are calling for real emergencies, and when they can not be helped expeditiously people die.

Well, I know here when a child calls 911 inappropriately they are put through a program with their parents. The child has to be brought down to the station by their parent with a letter of apology (pending they can write a little) and then they come to a class and learn about the reasons for calling 911 and when not to.

If you are going to let your child play with your cell phone, take the battery out of it! Even though a cell phone is no longer tied to a cell company, it is now a law that every cell phone be able to dial 9-1-1 if it still has a charge in the battery! I can not tell you how many calls I have taken from "non initiated" cell phones, and YES it does take time away from real emergencies. As for home phone, DO not let your child play with them! If i get a call from your house and its a child playing, I am REQUIRED to call you back. If I don't get an answer, I am REQUIRED to send an officer to your house. That takes them away from real emergencies. Lesson here...DONT LET KIDS PLAY WITH PHONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are about 5,000 billion play phones on display at Toys R' Us.
Buy one of those.
Besides, I think kids get a better kick out of: "Ring ring! It's grover! How are you today? The letter P is awesome! The color blue is like my fur!"

than

"911 dispatch, please state the nature of your emergency."

OK Christine,

Here's another vote against your argument (and none to support you yet.) Sorry, but parents are responsible for their children. If the child is old enough to understand how to dial a telephone (and call 9-1-1), then they should also understand what an emergency is and not to play with the phone. The children's story about "the little boy who cried wolf" was written for the sole purpose of educating children on this life lesson.

Children too young to understand, should not be able to reach the phone. You probably child-rpoofed your house and put your valuable / fragile / dangerous things out of reach. It isn't hard to do the same with the phone.

Have to agree. As a paramedic, I have had the distinct pleasure of transporting the following calls, sometimes multiple time.
1. Stubbed toe
2. Bug bite
3. Nightmare upset me (30 year old male patient)
4. I ate the pancakes today that made my brother sick yesterday. Now I am worried that I will be sick. (Oh, they called twice....refused the first time. We ordered them to go the second so they wouldn't call back.)
5. I have a splinter in my foot. (Two blocks away, I was missing a multiple victim car crash with six critical patients.)
6. I want to quit drinking. (This particular patient called every night at 3AM, drunk, for one month straight.)

7. My two day old baby isn't happy. (Whatever she said to the 911 operator resulted in two ambulances, 1 fire engine, 1 battalion chief and three police cars being dispatched.....all to find out that the baby wasn't happy).

8. My 15 year old bumped his knee jumping up and down on the hotel bed. (This was in the middle of a Category 3 hurricane.)
9. Teething
10. I drank the prep medication for my colonoscopy and now I have severe diarrhea. Make it stop.

I can go on forever with the stupid calls I have run....911 is for chest pain, strokes, difficulty breathing, uncontrolled bleeding, severe trauma.
Paramedics have the best poker faces in the world.....we can look calm when you are dying and not laugh in your face when you are an idiot.

what an absolutely fantastic post. And thanks for your service.

I agree with pretty much everyone here. I think a first offense should be just a warning, I understand that sometimes little kids will dial 911. Often times they don't even know what they are doing. They are just pushing buttons on the phone. A second offense should be something like a $20.00 fine. I know that little kids will sometimes even dial twice but if Mom and Dad are fined $20 bucks I bet they will make sure they have a good long conversation with their kids so their won't be a third time. I think it should jump to $200 for a third offense and $2000.00 for a fourth. After that, jail time.

As to making them pay the bill; just bill it to their phone. No matter how stupid somebody is, they seem to always want to keep their phone. Especially those teenager who are probably responsible for most of the prank calls.

This is all well and fine, but what about cell phones that are shut off? All of those phones can still call 911 because it was mandated by the government, that people who could not afford a phone still be able to reach emergency services. All those stupid morons give them to their children without removing the battery and those calls can not be traced. I received 15 calls 1 night from a phone like that and you can hear the child and their father in the background, but you can not call the phone back and the phone company can not track the call either. How are those people going to be found and fined for being freaking idiots?

But it is so true that even if you do fine people...it won't get paid and they don't care...that may ncourage some to call more.

Im an ER Nurse and I can also tell you stories about what people call 911 for. I had a young girl that called for an ambulance to bring her to the hospital saying she had abdominal pain and once she was brought in she signed herself out because she didn't have a ride to meet her boyfriend. She lived in another town about 17 miles away. Then we had another guy about 20 yrs old that came in because of big toe pain and guess what? He had lint underneath his toenail. People don't care. Like some said you won't be able to make them pay the fine. After the second time of calling 911 for a non emergency put in jail for 30 days. Maybe then they will wake up.

911 is for chest pain, strokes, difficulty breathing, uncontrolled bleeding, severe trauma.

Yes absolutely but to be fair, a lot of the time, chest pains and other hurts can be just as frivolous but still have the power to scare. I was on an antibiotic once that gave me terrible pain in my chest. It made me worry which made the pain even worse. I called an ambulance, the FD showed up, very embarrassing... all to find out that all that antibiotic did was give me really, really bad gas. I'd never had real heartburn before that day and I could swear I was having a heart attack.

Where I come from calls to 911 like this....

A Subway sandwich shop in Florida leaves the mayo and mustard off a customer's order.
A Texas man can't get a cab.
A Tennessee man's stepfather keeps nagging him to do the laundry.

... DO exist but they're very rare and usually made by children.

Yes, chest pain (CP) may turn out to be heartburn, but you did the correct thing in calling 911. You were having severe CP and like you wrote, you thought you were having a heart attack. We don't expect people to know what is causing their CP; it may turn out to be nothing serious, or it may be a heart attack. That is why we would rather you CALL for chest pain. Let the professionals determine what it is. Guess what, it often takes 24 hours to rule out whether or not it was a heart attack.

So, please, don't worry about looking foolish to the firefighters and paramedics. If you are having chest pain, you can't breath, you are having slurred speech, you are having numbness and tingling like a stroke, call 911. That is what we are there for. If you stub your toe.....don't call us. Try some ice.

Brenda, nicely said :)

I don't want to sit with those idiots! Besides, call centers are restricted areas in most places because they are accessing personal information, like driving records, socials, prior offense records and the like.

WOW! I really hope you NEVER need to call 9-1-1 for someone in your family dying in front of you! Those "idiots" would be your link to help! So, thanks for calling me an "idiot", I hope I never get a call from you!

And as a nurse you didn't know what the Red Cross meant?

The problem is that there are so many of these calls that to prosecute every one would overwhelm any dispatch center/PD/SO. You ignore what you can, and go after those who regularly abuse the system. In my dispatch center, we prosecuted a few, and hit them with jail time. But that does prevent the next imbecile from calling. There are millions of truly stupid people out there. If you don't believe that, just work in a 9-1-1 dispatch center for a week-- you'll never look at the human race the same.

Uh excuse me WEDONTNEEDNOSTINKINNAMES, with all due respect, we were never allowed to ignore what we could or wanted. we had to either clear it on the phone with a call back, or send an officer out.
By the same token though, we werent even allowed to tell them to call the non emergency number, even with giving the number to them, so some of your local agencies will also cater to these calls, and enable those stupid callers because they were already on the line, so just take the call.

In the case of the person who pushed the red button on the phone I can understand why the police were still sent. If that person was really in danger, say a criminal with a gun was there and made them say every thing was OK and they were injured or killed it leaves the police department open for a law suit. As a tax payer I'd rather pay for the salaries of the brave public servants than pay for the lawsuit settlement. I know that more than likely they are going to find everything is OK but better safe than sorry. In a lot of cases police officers do not get the respect they deserve and people are usually looking to place blame on some one when bad things happen.