I said ‘3-10 times’. The last two have been to report drunk drivers on the highway. One other I can remember was to report a stalled car in blocking part of a lane on a freeway connecting ramp; I wasn’t sure if it classified as an “emergency” or not, but ultimately decided that someone coming around the turn who wasn’t paying close attention would turn the situation into an emergency real quick…
I have twice.
The first time I have no memory of, and only know I did via family stories: when I was 20 months old my mom fell down the stairs after missing a step while bringing down laundry (and unfortunately lost a baby as a result of the fall). She could reach the handset when I brought the phone to her, but not the numbers on the phone so she coached me pushing the buttons until we finally reached an operator.
The second time was eight or ten years ago. I was driving to work when the car in front of me suddenly and sharply veered off the road and hit a tree. I don’t know if the driver had a medical issue or was trying to end it all, but weather and speed were definitely not factors. As far as I know he lived.
Just once that I recall, when my gall bladder attacked me. Spent the next few days in the hospital.
Just once. I was on the highway when a snowstorm hit. Visibility was near zero and the car ahead of me drifted off the road and into the ditch. I called to request that someone make sure they were okay, since it appeared to have been an older couple.
I had a neighbor with failing kidneys and no phone so he’d send his roommate over to get me to call for help sometimes. Probably five times in as many years. Another time I called when my partner was assaulted. Then there was the time my daughter was raped. I think that’s enough.
I never have but my parents did at least twice when I was young. Once when the next-door neighbor had a heart attack (she died) and once when the house across the street caught fire (minor damage).
There were two occasions before I had a cell phone when I would have called 911 if I’d been able, both times for people driving the wrong way on the expressway. I once almost called 911 when a car ahead of me went off the road and flipped over several times. But a sheriff’s deputy happened to be a few cars behind me so there was no need. I stayed at the scene a few minutes but amazingly it appeared that none of the four people in the car was badly injured.
Three times:
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When we were newlyweds, the woman who lived in the apartment below us had a tempestuous relationship with her boyfriend. Late one night, they got into a screaming fight, and he started yelling that he was going to kill her. (The police arrived before any physical violence actually occurred.)
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While driving to my parents’ house in a snowstorm on a Christmas morning, we saw a car spin out and go hard into the ditch in the center median.
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While driving a few miles away from my house, I saw a deer staggering in the middle of a busy road (it’d probably been clipped, and dazed, by another car).
Once for my landlady (she’d been bleeding internally for hours when I found her; she eventually was all right) and once for my mother (don’t even mention “hormonal treatments” to me, I get flashbacks).
I was going to say “zero,” but reading this thread reminded me of two times where I did:
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Walking around Boston one St. Patrick’s Day evening, came across some kids who were freaking out because one kid had been shoved into the cobblestone sidewalk. It’s unclear how bad his injury was but he was bleeding a lot (head wounds generally do), incoherent, and had the glazed-eye look I associate with shock. None of his friends had it together well enough to summon help; they were shrieking and running around helplessly (One girl screeched, “Ahhhhhh! I want to be a nurse when I grow up, but I’m freaking out from the BLOOD on my HANDS so HOW will I ever be a nurse?!?!?!?” It was tempting to say, “I guess you can’t huh?” but I didn’t.) I knelt down and tried to provide extremely basic first aid while my then-boyfriend, now husband, called 911. We left as soon as the ambulance arrived.
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While walking around a neighborhood in Hawaii, I came across a man passed out next to the road, breathing so I knew he was alive. He didn’t respond to my attempts to wake him up. I didn’t have a phone with me but there was a neighborhood store just yards away; I went in and asked the clerk to call 911 for me. Once I knew help was on the way, I left. No idea whether the guy was a drunk passed out on an ex-girlfriend’s lawn, or in a diabetic coma, or suffering a heart attack, or what.
Once. My son was having a severe asthma attack. It’s weird but even though it was so stressful with my then teenage son fighting for breath, I still questioned myself if it was a ‘real emergency’. Anyway, I am glad I called. My son had on the spot relief and then was carted off to Emergency and thankfully he came through. I got a new respect for asthma that night. Always take it seriously. It was frightening how quickly that attack escalated.
Saw what I assume was a homeless man sprawled out across a sidewalk near the Washington monument. Had a bit of trouble getting through to 911 (this was 2004) because it kept directing me to Maryland (where I live) services, rather than DC (where I was). But eventually an ambulance arrives and they wake him and take him off. He seems basically okay.
Chatting outside with my neighbor while our kids play, her boyfriend comes home. They start arguing about money, quickly gets very heated. I called 911, police arrive defuse things before any violence. They break up soon after.
- Drunk guy, pounding on my door, rattling the handle, determined to enter my apartment. The next four-plex over was a “hideout” for women who experienced domestic abuse. He had the wrong building.
- At the cabin, the bros next door had a rager. Long about 2am, my mom went over to ask them to quiet down. The objected, with threats against her little elderly self. I had the joy of calling 911, then getting between her and some very inebriated putz. Best take away of that night (after the guy was taken away) - my mom was quite shaken up and let loose with “Those… those… RINKYDINKS!”
- Car accident. Lady ran a red light, I plowed into her.
I voted ‘Never’ but I just recalled one time, it was sort of comical.
I was working at a gas station and saw (or someone told me, I can’t remember which) that there was a car on fire at one of the other gas stations and said I should call the fire department. We didn’t have 911 but had what they called a ‘fire phone’ so I called but by the time I called they had the fire out and had moved the car. I stayed on the line while the fire truck drove around trying to find the vehicle. I think they finally found it but couldn’t do anything.
That’s the gist anyway as it was a long time ago and I can’t really remember the details.
More than I care to count, but they’ve all been things like “erratic driver all over the road”, “debris in roadway”, “stalled car in traffic lane”.
In no particular order:
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Domestic disturbance so loud that I could hear it at least a block away.
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MVA
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Motorcyclist doing about 100 on the Jersey Turnpike.
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Suspected drunk driver entering a multi-use trail where no motorized vehicles are allowed.
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Witness to assault, gang activity suspected.
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Smoke in my apartment building.
- Another MVA: car into utility pole around two AM. My sleep-addled mind at first thought some utility workers had been electrocuted.
Picked 1-3, but remembered a few more.
First one it wasn’t me who actually pressed the buttons, I was driving; saw two guys carrying a barely conscious woman across the motorway off sliproad. They appeared to be swinging her over the main carriageway. I told my passenger to call, and had to get her to pass me the phone when I’d stopped, 'cos she hadn’t really been looking and was very short sighted anyway.
Next at work in a shop, guy came in very very drunk and proceeded to pass out on the freezer. We also noticed what appeared to be a chair leg stuck down the back of his pants… It was a weird area, but we decided that was a bit too weird.
Third time when I saw someone climbing into the neighbour’s window. I wasn’t sure who lived in that flat, but I’d never seen those guys before. I found out later it was a break in, despite being on a busy street in the middle of the afternoon.
Fourth was when a very drunk guy stole the fire escape (just a 6’ ladder) at 3am because he’d locked himself out of his 3rd floor flat. I had a long conversation trying to get him to not do that, but he was determined that it made sense. His dog looked quite embarrassed. I said it was a weird area.
Fifth while working security, when some lads thought it’d be funny to shoot fireworks at a crowded venue, and managed to get one through the door. No one was hurt.
Last time while working at a cafe, when a customer collapsed. He was OK, his daughter came in to say a few days later (with a bunch of flowers to say thanks for helping).
Oh, and… um… the really embarrassing one. While backpacking in Australia, in a tiny town. I was the only person in the backpacker’s, and the doors were self-locking. I managed to lock myself out, about 10pm in my jammies. My phone, my wallet, and the manager’s info was all inside. The emergency number was the only one I could remember that I could call without any money.
Really hoped it was such a small town they’d know who the manager was. They did.
No-one was very happy with me :o
Exactly once. 14 years old, accidentally sprayed myself in the face with mace while home alone in the wee hours of the morning. The operator was kind enough not to laugh.
I had a strange phone a long time ago, back in the days of analog cellular that if you made a call to 911, you had about 3 minutes of priority service where if you were in a congested cell your call went through and others were dropped to make that happen. I may have used that about 6 times, where I may have called 911 and hung up right away to allow this to work. Such things would, as I am told, get the phone into that mode but wouldn’t incure a call back from 911.
But we are talking about actual calls to 911, and there was a time I was assigned a project to identify phone lines and had to dial 991, I must have dialed 911 about 25 times that day by mistake (which I did let them know).
Now for actual emergencies and more modern day stuff, maybe 10-12 times using their emergency number, other times using their direct dial 7 digit emergency number mainly because I live in a remote area with spotty cell service and have reported cars in precarious situations stranded on the roads assuming that the driver can’t call.
3 that I can recall:
- MVA that I was involved in - an elderly lady t-boned my car
- MVA that I witnessed, car crossed oncoming traffic lane and went off the road into a fence
- Once while following a driver who was so under the influence of something that not only could he not maintain his lane, he couldn’t keep his vehicle in the road. I stayed on the line and followed him, relaying location, until he turned into an apartment complex. Never saw the cops.