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Me too... the emergency number in NZ is 111 but there was no option for that in the poll

I dialled it for the first time when a friend who had just come out of hospital after brain surgery had a seizure. The dispatcher and ambulance people were fantastic and he ended up fine, but he's on anti-seizure meds now.

Another time, my sister called the police from my house while I was at work. Her boyfriend was attacking her and she was barricaded in the bathroom. According to Sis, the dispatcher was wonderful. I got a call from the police after they'd sorted the situation out and they were excellent too.

Another time I called on behalf of a neighbour who was having chest pains. It was late at night and we were in an extremely isolated rural area. The call got redirected to the nearest city and the dispatcher didn't have a clue about the geography of the area we were in. I believe she dispatched an ambulance to the other end of the island (12 hours' drive away!) In the end another neighbour drove the guy to the nearest hospital (2 hours' drive). Just as well it wasn't a heart attack.

Most recently I called when I was stung by an insect. I didn't know if it was a bee or a wasp. I'm anaphylactic to bees and was home alone so I called just in case. It must have been a wasp, because I didn't swell up and I called them back before the ambulance arrived. I cannot speak highly enough of the dispatcher. She was a gem.

And, like Tiny, I've had other people phone while I administered first aid. Never had a problem with the dispatchers.

I haven't called but my mum once called because we had a fire. She was so flustered she gave the wrong house #. she goes to pieces in a crisis and can't think straight and I was just a kid at the time so couldn't step in.

In Australia our emergency number is 000. However, the American number features in so many television shows and movies some Aussies have an emeregency and call 911 !!!! When they have that tv show called Emergency 911 (or whatever) they have a special announcement EACH time there is an ad saying the emergency number in your country is 000 etc... still people call the wrong number.


Shows what happens when you are panicking.

I had to do a phone report after I had a car accident. I could only remembver the number plate of my previous two cars not my current one. Police lady said it happens when people are in shock and asked if I wanted to go and look at my car in the driveway and come back, that did it. I remembered!

Isn't the mind funny.



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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Agreed, politeness is relatively uneccessary - I like them to get all the facts, get my information (I know it's required, but it makes me feel like they're taking it seriously), and tell me they'll take care of it - even if they're not going to.

-Molly
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We make the caller repeat the address and the number they are calling from, because when they are in an excited state and we try and confirm it, all we get is "yea!!".. i could give them a totally different number and they don't listen to me.

But the others i do

What do you guys like to hear most when you talk with a call taker/dispatcher in an emergency?

I want to hear the address repeated, the service confirmed (ambulance, fire, police) and that someone is being dispatched. Don't really care about politeness or anything else.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

I like to hear: "911 emergency, how may I help you?" But welcome to Mcdonalds, how may I help you works well too.. Especially if its a car accident call and they say "Please pull around to the second window."

I have never had to call 911 ever. However, it only got into our area not even 5 years ago, so couldnt have anyway. usually I call the police direct on the local number if I need to, or the hospital direct. Why waste 911's time if I dont need to?


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Glad to see people use it for it's intended use and most people have had positive experiences as well

What do you guys like to hear most when you talk with a call taker/dispatcher in an emergency?

Three times...

1)I had a massive asthma attack while home alone when I was about 8 years old, so I called and an ambulance came out. My mom was the President of the school board at the time and was at a board meeting so a cop was dispatched to her meeting to let her know...and she beat the ambulance to my house...

2)I called to report an accident because I saw a minivan run off the road, roll down a hill, roll through a fence, and bump into a horse. The horse didn't appear to be too happy and the van was pretty beat up, so I called. An off-duty EMT showed up at the same time and said everybody was actually fine and walked them all out to wait for the ambulance...

3)I hydroplaned across a leaking manhole and went over two curbs and through a brick wall, so I called 911 to get a cop to come out and handle the accident. They sent a fire truck first. I explained to them that I was fine and needed a cop. So they left. An hour later, an ambulance showed up. I explained to them that I was fine and needed a cop. So they left. An hour and a half later, a cop showed up. He explained that it had been shift change AT THE POLICE STATION LESS THAN A MILE AWAY. I politely told him that next time I would just walk down there and drag one of them back with me as I could have done that with a broken leg faster than he was able to attend to the situation. He didn't find that too humorous...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

Err...I don't think I ever did, but I've been in the car when my parents have.

Other than that I haven't really been in a situation that required it.

Well, other than having it called for me.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

i called it a few times the operator person should b fired i called once to get a fire truck cuz an idiot semi driver didnt flip the air brakes n tried to drive it burst into flames when he locked in the wheels jsut so happened there was a gas station on both sides of the street n 4 foot flames coming over a 100 gallons of diesel fuel the lady on the other end asked if i was sure it was on fire
the first time i called for an ambulance cuz my roommate treid to kill himself i gave him cpr for 17 minutes b4 i got him breathing the ambulance took 23 minutes to get there the lady on the 911 phone said to give him coffee n induce vomiting cuz he chased a bottle of extra strength excederin wit a few bottles of coors lite
the 3rd time i called it was i watched 3 guys break into a store n my buddy wanted to see if his phone wood call it so i called
good service being provided but they need better technology they can only get the nearest tower to a cell phone n y the great lakes region there are alot of digitally dead zones so the need for anolog service by the phone companies should b better
wood i call it again? hmmm ya id use it

[font color="#008000"]I have never had to use 911.

[hr width='20%']Spawned from radiactive waters.[/font]

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Born in radioactive waters, the Mutant Goldfish swims...
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Where's the option for "No - Because I've never been in a situation that required it"?

That's my vote.

I call to report particularly dangerous drivers and really scary objects on the freeway ie huge ladders (that was a bad day ...). Never had any sort of problem; they're extremely helpful and polite, and know how to deal with it.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

I tried to, but it wasn't a registered number.

-- Gomer

If so, what type of emergency was it? (ie Medical, Fire, Police related)

How was the customer support?

How well did the call taker keep you calm and how efficiently did the taker gain important information?

Anything you didn't like?

I've been in situations when an ambulance has been needed, but I'm a qualified first aider, so I'm usually attending to the casualty whilst I've sent someone else off to make the call. Eg, when my gran had a heart attack, as the only first aider in the house, it made much more sense for me to stay with her and maintain her than it did me being on the phone and everyone else standing round going "umm, what do I do?"

But I had to vote "what is 911" really, cos in the UK, you dial 999 for emergency services, so I can say I've never used 911 or been in a situation when it's been needed.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

I love how your included Canadians.

Well I didn't call, but my mom did... and it wasn't 911, it was 999 (Britain). My grandma went to the hospital and I rode in the ambulance with her... she broke her hip and fell. The paramedics were very nice. Unfortunately they had a hard time finding the house and had to ask at the local pub (less than a mile from the house, fortunately). But it worked out pretty well.

I'm pretty sure my mom has also called 911 for my brother when he was young... he had the croup very severely a few times. I know once she called our HMO >.< oh my. That was bad. Something about he'll be fine... well thanks to my mom that particular office now has a message that says "if this is an emergency, please dial 911"! My brother couldn't breathe! Poor kid had to spend the night in the hospital on several occasions. There are other stories that go with that too... I'm glad he didn't die then because then I wouldn't have ever really gotten to be friends with him

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I once misdialed a phone number that began with 391-1, and apparently I missed the three. The operataor was very calm and understanding, while I was freaking out "oh ****, I'm going to jail for prank calling 911!", etc.

"Go figure on the chances of this happening."

I think that if you press the 9 button down for a certain span of time, it auto dials 911, but I'm not sure.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 10-Feb-2005 23:45