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December 16, 2008
9-1-1, What's Your Emergency?
I hope you never have to, but if you ever do find yourself in a real emergency, go ahead and call 9-1-1. But what constitutes a real emergency? I suppose that depends on the type of situation. Fires, break-ins, high fevers, those sorts of things are DEFINITELY 9-1-1 worthy. At the same time, if you can't decide, it's better to just go ahead and call 9-1-1. No harm, no foul. Your taxes pay for it anyway, so if you need to use it, use it.
That being said...
If you have an emergency, NEVER, EVER delay calling about it. Call right away, so the situation can be resolved quickly. This is not what happened to us last week.
A few weeks ago, we got a call of a fuel spill, on a residential street. That's somewhat odd, since big fuel trucks wouldn't normally travel that road, and that's not something we get called to a lot. So, off we went, in a heavy downpour to search for a fuel spill. After arriving in the area, we asked our Dispatchers if they had anything further, as we could see no spill, nor could we see any vehicles from which fuel might be leaking. The Dispatcher then advises that the spill happened a week earlier, and if you are looking in just the right spots, you could see two puddles of fuel. (The caller to 9-1-1 said that he saw the fuel coming from a landscaping truck.) The person that called also called the Environmental Protection Agency, who advised him to call 9-1-1. So what's the problem here? First and foremost, he should have called the moment he saw the spill. Second, the rain washed it all away, so we couldn't find anything anyway.
The point here is that this well meaning but super-late wanna' be do gooder called way, way, way too late for us to do anything about it.
While I am ranting, if you do need to call 9-1-1, please follow this simple advice: STAY WHERE YOU ARE. For instance, we get called all the time to a six lane Interstate highway we protect. I am guessing that we are sent on false calls there around 85 percent of the time. Yes, a full 85 percent of the time, the call either isn't found, or it's in another location. That's mostly because folks do not stop when they are calling! They are in some big rush, or just don't want to get involved. Well, if you call 9-1-1, you are involved. Give your location, and wait there to wave down the Fire Department, EMS or Police as they arrive.
They will appreciate it, I promise you.
Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow...
Posted by Jon at December 16, 2008 04:59 PM