Just a couple of hours ago, a woman was screaming her head off from the first floor of my 3 apartment house. (I was on the third floor). Some guy was yelling back too. Things like “Let me go!! We can discuss this later!!” “No!! When is later??!!”
So, I leaned over the stairs and asked out “Is everything allright over there?” The women screams “NO!!! Call the Police!!!” The guy goes “This is just a domestic dispute!! Nothing wrong hereAAA” and starts marching up the stairs!!!
I am shit scared now. I had my cordless on my hands then. I call 911. And guess what!!! IT RINGS GODDAMN FOUR TIMES before someone picks up on the other side!!! By this time I can hear the guys footsteps outside; luckily he just knocked a couple of times…and then luckily walked away.
Why the fuck do I have to wait for FOUR rings when I call 911??!!! Does anyone have any clue?
BTW, it WAS a domestic dispute between a women and her drunken brother (this was a brother who took care of his sister when she had a toothache!!).
Oh well, I am allright, but I am really a bit shaken now.
Hell, at my job last summer, we had a woman go into full cardiac arrest, and it took 15-20 rings (I lost count) before 911 picked up. Luckily, we had both a doctor and a paramedic on staff that night. I don’t know if they just had an extraordinary number of calls that night, or if all the operators were in the can at the same time or what, but it was hellish waiting for them to pick up.
Be glad anyone picked up at all. I was just reading something the other day (sorry, don’t recall where) about how many emergency-number calls are NOT picked up every year. I seem to recall that the number was around 20,000. How scary would THAT be??
I have to call 911 six or seven times a week. (No, I’m not insane, I work at a hospital!) and very often it rings a good 10-15 times before someone picks up. Nothing unusual.
Err… Isnt something wrong? Doesnt it bother you people that the emergency line is not treated like one? Can something be done about this?
Is there some other number having higher priority?
Supply and demand, my friend… a lot of people calling emergency numbers, and not enough operators to pick up on the other end. Unfortunately, the cops aren’t a guarantee that you’ll be protected… only that there’ll be an investigation after the fact.
I suggest you find some other means of self-defense if you want to sleep soundly.
On a tangent, a teenager was killed by an angry mob, while 911 had OVER 30 CALL IN A HALF HOUR PERIOD about unruly children and beatings before dispatching police. If they had answered sooner, the poor boy would have undoubtably survived.
I read in the paper the other day that 8 out of 10 calls to 112 (as it’s known in Sweden) are either prank calls or totally useless calls. Some people ask to be dispatched to a cab, some people want to know how long a turkey is supposed to cook. Someone called and asked for the number to a TV station’s complaint hotline, and when the operator told the person to just call directory assistance, she was told “Are you crazy? That’s expensive!” No wonder you can’t get through…
I have to admit that I once called 112 when I relly didn’t have to. My parents called me in the middle of the night, they had been robbed in Madrid and needed to cancel their creditcards. I panicked and didn’t know what to do, so I called 112 and asked for help. She was very sweet about it and dispatched me to the local police who helped me out with the number.
Here is a scenario:
So, lets assume the police picked up on the very first ring. Now you are on the phone, and the guy, instead of walking away, kicks down your door. What good is it to you to have the police on the line?? Perhaps you can give him the phone and they can tell him to stop? In a best case situation, the police are still going to be at least 5 minutes away. Got any idea how long that is?
I was in a violent confrontation that lasted less than 1 minute 10 and it felt like hours and when it was done, three people were dead, I was injured, and it still took more than 15 minutes for the army to get there from their post less than 1/2 Km away. I’m glad my first instinct wasn’t to dial 911 then*, and it still isn’t.
[sub]*yes, it was in Africa, and yes, I know 911 isnt available in that area I was in. Still, the concept of hesitating and/or waiting for someone else to protect me is unacceptable and foolish.[/sub]
I understand that self-defense is the best**, but at that instant calling 911 was essentially deterrence.
If he knows that I have managed to call for police help, may be he will back out; or else he most probably thinks he has time to beat me up and make a run for it (why would he do that? I dont know!!)
**though I would like to say that it isnt my first thought; I weigh in at a mammoth 120 pounds!!
I’ve had 911 give me a busy signal several times before getting through, and then putting me on hold. That was scary. Being put on hold to 911. The busy signal almost drove me through the roof.
I found out the reason, though. Around the time, it seems a lot of people got cell phones for Christmas and wanted to test them out. They didn’t want to pay for the call, so they just dialed 911. Idiots.
There was even a program on t.v. about that the other night. People calling 911 for stupid reasons. “There’s a spider on the wall, what do I do?” “I’m lost, how do I find this place?” Stupid stuff like that.
IIRC, there was a mayor in Arizona (Scottsdale?) who was finally asked to quit calling 911 as her personal locator, she was calling so much to ask for directions from her cell phone while driving.
I have heard of some cities that have implemented or are considering implementing a 911 fee for idiot callers.
You get one “screw up” call to 911, and after that, every "send a cab”, "I see a bumblebee, help!”, “What’s the 800# for The Home Shopping Club” call you make, you pay $100. I think it should be higher than that. These fucking halfwits need to learn somehow.
Where I live, I always thought that there was a $500 or so fine for dumb calls. Maybe it was just an effective method of telling me not to do it (btw, I live in Saskatchewan).
No instant response from the police, in a possibly violent situation? And if you did get through, what help might they have been if he decided to kick down your door while the 911 operator was taking down information?
Surprise, surprise - lots of other posters are relating the same type of problems getting through on an emergency call.
What do you do if there is no telephone, anyway? In a parking lot, or on a city street?
There are situations that justify armed self-defense. Many people like to pretend that they don’t exist, that the police can protect you from all harm, that violent people won’t get to harm you if you just behave the right way and do the right things.
Guns - firearms of all types - are used quite frequently in the US for such defensive persons. The exact number is in dispute (see many other gun threads on this board) but the American Rifleman, the magazine of the NRA, publishes a full page of clippings each month, culled from (and with source documentation) from news sources around the country.
It is your right in this country to own firearms if you so desire. If you choose to own a gun, be responsible. Take necessary precautions to keep it away from kids, get trained, practice with it. I teach gun safety - and preach it.
