Have you ever dialed 999/911 (what is it in other countries?) and why?
I had to ring for the police the other night for the first time ever. I was woken up by screaming and shouting and cars smashing in a street nearby. I couldn’t believe noone else had called the police because it was going on for ages but I didn’t want another ‘Kitty Genovese’ scenario.
It made me realise at 23 it was the first time I’ve ever needed to dial 999, and was surprised by how friendly and chatty the emergency operator was.
Once in downtown Baltimore when a guy was getting beat up right outside my apartment windows. I was surprised that I was stuck on hold. I always thought calling 911 and getting put on hold was a joke that never really happened. But the person who took my call was very efficient and polite. She asked if anyone was armed (I didn’t know) and if I’d talk to the police when they came (why not?). The police arrived within five minutes after that.
Once in downtown Charlotte when I saw a guy breaking into a car while I was driving out of a parking garage. That time I got through right away (I think it range once) and the person on the line was incredibly efficient.
The last time was in Baltimore county when I came home to find my apartment burgled. No hold time and the person was professional if a bit brusk. The police arrived pretty quickly and they were very nice.
I phoned for the Fire Brigade a couple of years ago when I saw smoke coming out of an upper floor window. The operator took the details,thanked me and said that it had already been reported. The fire engine turned up seconds later.
The only time I’ve ever dialled 911 was when my mother fell and split her kneecap. Dad was all for picking her up, taping her to a folding chair and hauling her to the Emergency Room in the back of my truck.
Saner heads prevailed. A quick call to 911 and the paramedics were on the scene to handle everything. I reminded Dad that this was what he paid taxes and insurance premiums for, so why not get some use out of them?
I knew that for a non-emergency I was supposed to call the police station number but when I came home to find my place had been robbed, I called 911. This was in DC the murder capital of the world at the time so I’m surprised I got through. I’m also wondering why I called, since they couldn’t do anything, but it had at some point been programmed into me to call.
I phoned for the first time a few weeks ago. A joyrider crashed into our block of flats when I was trying to get to sleep. I can’t say the operator was particularly chatty, though.
The one time I tried calling 911, my phone told me “No Service.”
I was at a restaurant and a man, eating with his wife, collapsed out of his seat. He came to about five minutes later. It’s quite surreal to watch people panic. I didn’t like it one bit.
I called 911 once when I was about 5 years old. I saw a sticker on the side of our phone that said, “Dial 911.” I didn’t know that it was only supposed to be done in case of emergency.
My mother had a bad reaction to a painkiller after oral surgery. She stopped breathing. I called 911 while my dad did rescue breathing. I was in jr. high at the time.
I was a lifeguard after my frshman year at college and rescued a 5 year old who drowned. I directed the other lifeguard to call 911 while I did rescue breathing since it didn’t occur to her to do that. :rolleyes: It’s long story, but she was incompetent. The little girl survived.
I was in grad school and my friend who had the apartment across the hall was assaulted as she walked home from church. She was screaming outside my window when I jumped up, saw her and called 911.
I was in grad school and some bozos lit a fire outside my apartment in the alley way.
Finally, in our home in St. Louis a mylar balloon got tangled up in a ceiling fan as we slept. The blades of the fan whapped against the balloon making loud banging noises that sounded like someone breaking in. I called 911 as hubby charged the door. Finally he yelled up to me “It’s all right, it’s just a balloon”. I had no idea what he was talking about, but that was ok- because apparently all was well!
I’ve called 911 several times, once just a couple of weeks ago. I’ve even done the aviation equivalent by declaring an emergency to Air Traffic Control (not for me, but for another aircraft).
In all cases, the response was immediate and efficient.
My most recent call was when I was driving home and had to swerve to avoid a body laying in the street. Pulled over, called on my cel and got a quick response. Explained the situation and noted that the person could be dead or just passed out, I didn’t know, but they had better get somebody out there quick.
I went over and began the first stages of CPR. Not breathing, so I tilted her head back. She then began breathing and I smelled alcohol. She came around a moment later with me poking her arm and yelling in her ear. Cops got there about then and I split.
Took me another half hour to get MY OWN breathing back. I could easily have run her over at that time of night…
I’ve called three times.
1-When I witnessed a guy get hit my an SUV.
2-When I saw a garbage pail on fire and the flames started licking the outside of a building and a window cracked.
3-When a saw a man on a motorcycle get hit by a car during a blackout.
Back in college, come home, and a man who was hiding in my roommate’s bedroom (female roommate) jumps me from behind her door (I had opened her bedroom door because I thought I heard a noise in there and I knew she had gone camping for the week-end.) It was late at night and pretty scary. I fell on the floor, the guy started hitting me, then he jumped up and ran down the steps and out the front door.
Once I saw two men fighting in the street (one of the guys looked like he was hitting the other with a big chain.) I called the police but by the time they showed up the two guys had left.
We’d just had this fire-alarm drill at the office I used to work at and the number got stuck in my head (112 in Sweden). So when I needed to call “number information” (118118 in Sweden) later that night, it took me a while to figure out why the call-center lady was so stressed out. And it really perplexed me when she couldn’t give me the number I wanted.
Back in college, one of my housemates committed suicide. 911 didn’t exist back then; I had to call the operator and ask for the police. I was so freaked out I couldn’t remember our address at first.
Once, when I lived in NYC, a woman across the courtyard was being horribly raped or murdered. I have no idea whether the cops got there in time.
Three years ago my mother fell in the bathroom. She died a few days later.
Maybe six or seven years ago, in Cedar Hill, Texas. My mom and I were driving along and there was a matress or something similarly big and bulky in the road (Beltline Road near I-20, IIRC). I called the operator on my cell to ask who I should report it to, and she told me to call 911. Dialed 911, reported the debris and where it was and the dispatcher thanked me and told me they’d send a police cruiser to clean it up.
