As far as I can recall, I have only ever done a 911-type call twice. The first time was in calling an ambulance for an accidental death (someone else started the call but I had to finish it,) and the second time was when I thought my cell phone might have accidentally dialed out to 911, so I called 911 directly to follow up so they wouldn’t mistakenly think something was amiss.
Three times that I recall. One was to report a burglary (not in progress). Once to report a car accident we witnessed while driving (not a terrible one) and one that was for something awful that I don’t wish to talk about.
I voted for >10 times, because over the years, I have. I’ve reported a few auto accidents, called in junk on the road (in each case, they already knew about it) and also a few loud-music calls when I was in college. When I first moved out, I also called 911 because someone beat on my front door in the middle of the night and then shined a flashlight in the window. Other neighbors reported the same thing that night.
Last time I called 911 was at a meetup a couple months ago; one of the other attendees thought she was having a seizure, and EMS showed up within 5 minutes and took her to the hospital. We found out later that she had a very severe panic attack, which wasn’t surprising because she was going through a very stressful time.
I called 911 only one time. I drove up on an overturned log truck. The road was covered with logs and both occupants were deceased. I was the first person on the scene, it was awful. I climbed around logs to check for pulses and maybe provide aide. One guy was virtually decapitated the other smashed into the windshield very dead. The lil’wrekker was a toddler in her carseat and totally freaked out. She is still afraid of log trucks. And blue lights and sirens nearly send her into panic attacks. I kept her from seeing the bodies, but we couldn’t leave the scene for a long time. The road was blocked and the troopers wanted a complete statement.
Once, for escaped horses who were running toward highway traffic a couple of feet from the road. It turned out there was no harm done to the horses or drivers, but it sure looked like there was going to be.
I did it once. We live in a townhouse and years ago our old neighbors used to have some serious fights. One night it was so loud my husband and I really feared someone was going to get hurt. There was also a young child in the house so I called.
Called several times:
Neighbor’s horse in my front yard. Didn’t know to whom it belonged. Deputy knew and went to notify him. Now we know.
Twice a few years apart when my wife had some medical issues.
Once to report a fire.
Several times for hi-way accidents. One was mine.
- Unconscious man in the road
- Domestic disturbance
3-7 All me. I went into anaphylaxis 5 times over a 4 month period.
Nope. Never.
Twice, I think. The first time when an ex had a seizure, and another when I got behind a drink driver in the wee morning.
I used to work in dispatch though, so I had the number to the dispatch for the city I lived in memorized. I called it several times for things that most people would have called 911 for, for lack of another option. I also call Highway Patrol directly if it’s a situation that pertains to them to cut out the 911 middleman.
many times but mostly because I once had a job in an Assisted Living Facility and was on duty 4 to midnight (so, the only staff for almost all of that).
mostly I called 911 for people there having health problems* but once when I could smell smoke and couldn’t find out where it was coming from. it was a juice machine in the dining room.
in my personal life three times.
*every one of them said “I don’t want to go to the ER” to which the answer is, nobody wants to go to the ER.
Driving on a winding two-lane highway in Madison County Arkansas. A motorcyclist passed us doing probably about 70. I told my wife “We’ll probably see him again.” And so we did, after he went off the road and hit a tree. My wife stayed with him while I stopped traffic and called 911. Appparently he survived.
The first time was after I got robbed at gunpoint outside my hoiuse. I was walking home at 10:30 pm from the 7-11 a block and a half away and was followed home.
They got away with very little, as I had very little. And they did not use their guns, which was a good thing.
Immediately upon coming inside I called 911. Forgetting that our county didn’t actually HAVE 911 at the time. I believe we were one of the three at the time in our state that had not yet gotten with the program.
I was connected to a very nice person somewhere else, don’t know where, who counseled me to call our city police department. Whose number I had to look up.
Blerg.
Too many times to count. In the county in which I live, calling in instances of handicap-parking violations requires me to call 911 as I would for an actual emergency. I have no choice in the matter.
I can remember only twice. Once when a drunk did a face plant on the sidewalk and knocked his front teeth out (he was so drunk he passed out on his feet and couldn’t be awakened even after he bashed his mouth in) and the other time was when my son had a stroke and fell into a coma right in front of my eyes.
Once, after having witnessed the crash of a small plane.
With the help of quick ambulance response, pilot survived,
Called it when a weeping woman knocked on my door and I opened the door (yes I know very stupid idea). When she started getting hostile and I ordered her out, I called 911. Just minutes later the police are on my lawn arresting her; don’t know if my call got her or whether the police were already following her, and never found out what happened later.
Once, for the first time in my life this past Thanksgiving. We were out of town and my dad passed out and hit his head really hard, and I made the decision to call 911. It all turned out fine but there was a lot of time and worry between “he’s dead” and “he’s fine”.
I’ve called my city’s non-emergency number maybe a half dozen times. To report police type stuff.
I said 3-10. The two incidents I specifically remember are:
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When I was 17 and some woman was running down the street yelling for someone to call 911 because her ex was trying to kill her and her son. (And she was not exaggerating. Guy tried to run her over–tire marks in the front yard and everything.)
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While driving through the West Side I saw somebody dump what I swear looked like a .50 cal Desert Eagle into a dumpster. Whatever it was, it was definitely a big-ass gun. I was stopped at a red light, and there was a whole group of people just hanging out on the corner, and one guy, for whatever reason, just looked out of place. While waiting for the light to change, I focused on him, saw him walk up to the dumpster, pull a piece out from under his shirt, and carefully slipped it into the dumpster. It was a bit of a surreal moment.
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Oh, yeah, some jackasses fighting down the street from me. Some contractor was pissed about not being paid by the owner of the building for doing work and he came back shouting and threatening and getting into a rather pathetic semblance of a “fight” out there. I actually called two or three times before getting the fuck out there myself because I was getting pissed off they were making a racket and managed to de-escalate the situation until the police finally came by about 15 minutes later. Totally out of character for me, but I was so fucking pissed at the noise and the lack of police response that I decided to try my hand at it.
I voted 3-10, but in retrospect, it’s probably quite a few more than 10.
Some highlights.
3 or 4 times calling in erratic drivers including some person in a mobility chair going down the road veering all over the place.
A drunk driver in the ditch in front of my house.
A couple of accidents I was involved in.
Attempted home break-in while I was out of town.
Drunk guy coming into the restaurant I was working at who obviously way over the limit for driving.
Multiple occurrences of trespassers and people having wrecks on my property where they didn’t make the curve at night.