# Detroit 911 operator refuses to send help **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 7, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749 "2006-04-07T17:39:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/1 "2006-04-07T17:39:43Z")
[Oh My God](http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4739612). It was my understanding that 911 operators treat all calls as emergencies, even hang-ups. Children are taught to call 911 if they need help. Now this little boy doesn’t have a mother, and in the final insult, the 911 operator won’t be fired “because of her years of service.” WT holy blue F??? ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/2 "2006-04-07T17:53:54Z")
I don’t really know what to say. I’m horrified. Can just ANYONE become a 911 operator? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/3 "2006-04-07T18:01:33Z")
Last year two sons of a friend of mine were home alone when their father had a massive heart attack. The 8 year old called 911 immediately, and the operator kept him on the line until the Fire Dept. got there. No 911 operator should hang up a child ever. The idea of any child being home alone with their parent’s body is frightening beyond belief. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/4 "2006-04-07T18:24:50Z")
Every year there are kids who save their epileptic, asthmatic and diabetic parents’ lives by calling the emergency services. Many people with those conditions teach their kids how to telephone for help from a very early age- how horrible to have your parent dying in front of you, to do exactly the right thing, and to be dismissed as a prank caller because of your age. WTF was that woman thinking? You send the help and _then_ you decide if it’s a prank call, not the other way around!. If it’s a prank call, you have a location trace and a voice recording to use as evidence in order to prosecute for maliciously wasting the resources of the Emergency services. The whole point of why prank calls to the Emergency services are such a problem is because they’re supposed to answer _every single one_, no matter how dodgy it seems. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/5 "2006-04-07T18:29:10Z")
That is horrifying beyond words! ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/6 "2006-04-07T18:47:29Z")
> [@](#): > > The operator demands to speak to an adult before sending police. Well, I can understand the operator asking to talk to an adult to clarify the situation, but if the kid said there was no adult there, then why not treat it as an emergency? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/7 "2006-04-07T18:53:18Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Well, I can understand the operator asking to talk to an adult to clarify the situation, but if the kid said there was no adult there, then why not treat it as an emergency? Because, you silly man, it was obviously a prank. There are no cases…none, I tell you! where an adult would pass out and there would only be a child in the house to call for help. This 911 operator had years of experience (that’s why she won’t be fired) and she can tell when a child is in dire straits and when a child is making a crank call. She should be promoted to supervisor immediately. Detroit cannot let this gem of an employee slip through their fingers. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/8 "2006-04-07T18:57:33Z")
This woman should be tried for manslaughter, or at the least criminal negligence. I hope that family takes emergency services for all they own. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/9 "2006-04-07T19:04:15Z")
I thought that 911 operators had been trained after an early FUBAR when 911 was first being implented, that you always send help. I do not understand how anyone’s years of service matter with a screw-up of this magnitude. BTW, **ivylass** , I do wish this were in the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/10 "2006-04-07T19:07:07Z")
I hope that if it is determined that the woman would be alive if help had reached her in time, that the prosecutor presses charges against the 911 operator. Looks like the Detroit 911 system needs a shaking up, like New York City’s got when [Public Enemy](http://music.yahoo.com/ar-261913---Public-Enemy) released 911 Is A Joke. (They revamped the 911 system once it was found that the song wasn’t so far off base as would be hoped, I remember watching segments about it on MTV news at the time it happened, and being impressed that a song could bring about such change.) ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/11 "2006-04-07T19:07:18Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > I hope that family takes emergency services for all they own. Yeah, that’ll improve the situation for everyone. :rolleyes: I hope there was sarcasm there that I missed. -foxy ---
**Author:** ![Faruiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/12 "2006-04-07T19:08:12Z")
MOOOOVE IT TO THE PIT! Let’s give this subject the language it so richly deserves. Simple firing may be too good for the tool. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/13 "2006-04-07T19:11:24Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > BTW, **ivylass** , I do wish this were in the Pit. Please, ask a mod to move if you feel fit. I’m a little wary of starting Pit threads because I’m not sure if they’re always Pit-worthy. I’d rather be upgraded than demoted. ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/14 "2006-04-07T19:11:29Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > This woman should be tried for manslaughter, or at the least criminal negligence. I hope that family takes emergency services for all they own. That’s what I was wondering, too. Apparently she hasn’t been charged with any crime so far. Here that would be at least [“Failure to render assistance”](http://www.iuscomp.org/gla/statutes/StGB.htm#323c) and “Negligent Bodily Injury”/“Negligent Homicide” would be worth a try as well. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/15 "2006-04-07T19:13:07Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > I hope that family takes emergency services for all they own. Do you mean the 911 operator? Because I don’t think the police or ambulance were at fault here. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/16 "2006-04-07T19:16:12Z")
It’s not that vital, **ivylass**. It’s just I find that there are times a good Anglo-Saxon ejaculation can release emotional tension. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/17 "2006-04-07T19:18:43Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Do you mean the 911 operator? Because I don’t think the police or ambulance were at fault here. Well, they’re the ones not firing her. If they’re so poorly run that they won’t fire an obviously incompetent employee, then let them get hit with a lawsuit. Or gut the existing worker pool and install all-new workers. Either way, I don’t think the safety of the people of Detroit will suffer if they lose 911. ---
**Author:** ![Faruiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/18 "2006-04-07T19:21:22Z")
Yeah, and if it gets moved, you didn’t actually start it there, which means that you’re totally not responsible for what we do to it. 😃 Not that you’re responsible anyway, but hopefully someone will attack other posters’ outrage without all the facts, and all that crap, and they’ll leave you out of it. I’m happy with my outrage. But I’d be happier if I could swear about it. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/19 "2006-04-07T19:23:33Z")
Dubya Tee mother-f\*cking Eff! I’m irate. I can’t even put this into words. Were this the Pit, I’d make George Carlin blush. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749/20 "2006-04-07T19:33:40Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > Well, they’re the ones not firing her. If they’re so poorly run that they won’t fire an obviously incompetent employee, then let them get hit with a lawsuit. Or gut the existing worker pool and install all-new workers. Either way, I don’t think the safety of the people of Detroit will suffer if they lose 911. I’m not clear on who’s in charge of 911. Is it an arm of the police, or are they their own, separate entity. I think Detroit will suffer if they lose 911 service. I don’t think they will suffer if they lose this one employee. I’m hoping her co-workers are looking at her like :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-911-operator-refuses-to-send-help/351749.md?page=2)