How many times have you ever dialed 911?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I had to call 911 yesterday; there was a moderately bad accident in front of me while driving home from the bank, and so I was just wondering how often others have. I think this was the 4th time maybe?

Others:
I did once in high school; my dad and I were in the front yard of our house and we heard a really bad car accident abot a half a block up the road. He ran to help and told me to run in the house to call (pre-cell phone days). I remember being terribly nervous to talk to the operator!!:stuck_out_tongue:

Called annonymously once on my drug dealing neighbors having the loud party at 2AM.

Called once about a year ago from my car. A young lady cut an older guy off, and when we all got to the traffic light he parked the car, got out and went up to her and started beating on her window and calling her obscenities. Right in the middle of traffic! Poor girl was scared half to death.

You?

2

Just once. By accident. I was at a friend’s house when I unthinkingly dialed “9-1-area code”, before realizing “Duh, I’m not at work, I don’t need an outside line”. I hung up mid-dial, but I must have pushed the “1” twice, because about 20 minutes later, the cops showed up. It was awfully embarrassing.

3

Once, when I was ~4. We were messing around at a school basketball game. I hung up right away and let somebody else take the blame when a cop showed up.

4

Three times. All were for domestic drama. Once, I was a witness. The other two, I was a victim.

5

Just twice.

The first time I was 18 months old, and my mother had fallen down the stairs. Though she could j-u-s-t barely reach the handset when I brought it to her, she couldn’t reach the buttons to dial. So she then coached me to push buttons until I hit the right buttons for her. Obviously I didn’t speak to the operator that time.

And last spring a truck ahead of me suddenly veered sharply off the road and hit a tree. It didn’t look like he even attempted to brake. As far as I know, he survived the accident.

6

I can remember calling the police at least twice before 911 even existed. Once when we found a toddler out in the snow and once when an officer was hit and thrown from his car in front of our house. At least six times that were actual 911 calls. Once to report a robbery in progress, once to report a fire in a nearby four-family flat and four times to summon an ambulance.

7

Wow.

8
  1. 2 year old son goes missing in the woods. Found while still on the phone. Whew!

2.-4. Three times for obstructions in the road (2 trees and one cooler)

  1. Husband, recently recovering from heart attack has a recurrence of symptoms. Ambulance takes him to the hospital, he is OK. (Drove himself to the hospital from work when he had the heart attack.)

I think we’ve had a least one accidental child call. Our area code starts with 91, so they must get a ton of mistaken calls.

black rabbit: :frowning: Hope things are better now.

9

I can think of 3 times off the top of my head. Once for a medical emergency for me. Once for a medical emergency for someone else. Once, very recently, for a fire across the street.

10

A few times. None for emergencies.

11

Twice.

in 1978, when I was 11, my grandmother had a heart attack while she was watching me and my sister over Christmas break. She had been sitting in a recliner watching her “stories,” and then she kind of sighed funny and went unresponsive. My dad worked part-time as an EMT, so I knew all about 911. I called for help, then sent my sister to the neighbors’ to get her out of the way (she was about 6) and waited for the paramedics. I knew that Grandma needed CPR, but I’d never been trained in it (and probably wasn’t big/old enough to do it right, plus I was scared out of my mind). Grandma survived, but she was never quite right after that – touch of dementia that gradually got worse – and she died about 13 years later.

About a year and a half ago, Mr. S and I were driving on a winding two-lane state highway behind someone who was having problems staying in the lane and often veering well across the dividing line. We thought “drunk” and called 911, while staying well back, yet flashing our lights whenever we saw oncoming cars. Fortunately traffic was light. The cops eventually showed up and pulled the car over, and we stayed to file a statement. Apparently the person had been having a bad reaction to medication, but not enough to realize he/she was impaired.

So the person was taken to a hospital, and the tow truck came to load up the car while we wrote up our statement. Good thing, because our battery died while we were sitting there, and the tow guy gave us a jump! The next day we found out that our battery was more than 7 years old! :eek: Time for a new one . . .

12

Some kids had set fire to a rubbish bin (one of those six foot ones) and it was spreading.

A gang with a samurai sword attacked a kebab shop worker.

A man kept exposing himself in the park, including to my daughter.

A dramatic gunfight took place outside my kitchen window.

My daughter locked herself in the bathroom.

A woman had collapsed on the street.

A disgruntled customer returned to smash the windows at the pub I worked in.

Same pub, customer with epileptic fit.

Ambulance for care home resident who’d had a heart attack (I worked there).
I know there have been others, but I’ve lost track.

@Elfkin: well done to both you and your Mum. Did you get in the local paper? I see stories like that in the locals here sometimes.

13

Just to add: I should have been able to free my daughter from the bathroom myself, in retrospect, but didn’t realise how to. A fire engine arrived with all sirens blaring, five firemen clumped in their big boots up the stairs to my flat, let her out within thirty seconds, then clumped back down and drove away silently. My neighbours thought it was all worth it just so that they could gawk at the sexy firemen. :smiley:

14

A couple of accidents I witnessed on the highway and once for my own medical emergency.

15

Twice in college - once a lady was struck by a car right in front of my house early Sunday morning. Other was when my roommate suddenly became pale and started sweating and shivering for no reason at all while we were studying (he was OK).

At least four times at my current home - twice there were crashes right on my corner (one speeding SUV vs. an RV, second a bicyclist at high speed losing to the hood of a car) where I was outside on my cordless while giving first aid, a few months ago a couple of insane girls rammed their truck into a neighbor’s car, possibly while attempting to rob a house, and the fourth was a couple years ago on my cell while running after a mugger (detailed in the “Dumb criminals stories” thread recently).

Had to tell someone to call 911 several times - witnessed a bike messenger get smacked by a car door, happened across a girl collapsed from what turned out to be heat exhaustion, found an elderly gentleman who had fallen and couldn’t get up (no jokes).

Interestingly enough I just did my CPR/AED refresher training this morning. It’s amazing how many people won’t take any action at all in a crisis, not even calling 911. Part of the training has always been to point to a person and instruct them to call 911 right away, then come back to you.

16

Three times.

Once for domestic violence.

Once when someone was trying to break into my house.

Once when two of my sons (toddler and preschool aged) managed to unlock the childproof locks on a window and climbed out onto the roof. Now, years later, it’s still the talk of the neighborhood, and every cop and firefighter in town. :eek:

17

I’ve never called myself, but I’ve had 911 called for me twice. First time was when I had what I thought was bad indigestion and what my husband thought was appendicitis. He was reading a symptom list off of WebMD to me while I was in the shower and I passed out. Turns out he was right.

The second time was just five weeks ago tomorrow, when I was in very early labor at home and my daughter’s cord prolapsed. It was only through the coordinated efforts of my 2 midwives and the medics that she survived. We will hopefully be able to take her to meet the EMTs next week–I have no idea if they know that she made it.

18

Once. about 10 years ago.

It was early one sunday morning, about 6 am, and I went to get some breakfast. I noticed my gas tank was near empty so I stopped at convenience store to fill up. Stopped at the pump, filled up with gas and then tried to go inside to pay. The store was locked up. No one in it. Apparently, they had closed up Saturday night and forgot to shut down the pumps.

I didn’t know what to do. I just filled up with gas and I couldn’t pay for it. what to do? Call my friends so they get can free gas? Just leave, and come back later or just leave. No, I called 911. By the time the police got there, the attendent arrived and I payed for my gas.

19

When I think about it, I’ve called 911 quite a few times.
Just the ones that come to mind right now

I was about 10-12yrs old and we had a small fire in our bathroom.

16 or 17 and my older sisters boyfriend “accidentally” shot himself with a 22 in the stomach.

20 when some old lady ran the red light and clipped the front of my car. Turned out she was related to a high-ranker in the department and the officer wouldn’t even take a report…wish I knew then, etc…

24 when there was a fire in one of the second floor apartments in the building I lived in.

More than a couple times at work as a bouncer. Couple of times for fights that were spiraling out of control, twice for customers having seizures, once for an idiot who ran out of the bar, off the curb between 2 parked cars, in the rain, and got clipped by a passing car, once again for a hit and run while someone crossed the street out front, once or thrice to remove patrons, before I started just cutting to the chase and mostly doing it myself…
Had 911 called on me a couple of times. Once an extremely obnoxious female customer had to be escorted off the dance floor and out the door, and when I refused her reentry, she became nasty, verbally abusive and when I blocked the doorway, she slapped me. I then leaned in and whispered that if she tried to get past me I would grab her by the hair and drag her ass to the curb.
Well, little Ms. Princess never had any peon talk to her that way before, so she called 911. Officers show up, we talk, witnesses back my statement, not hers that I had grabbed her neck/hair, etc…final exchange went like Officer-“he’s security, hired by the owners and has the authority to escort you out and bar you from the establishment, and if you had done more than leave a little red mark on his cheek, you would be the one getting locked up!” Priceless look on Princesses face.

Second time was a whacked out ex-con lunatic that started a brawl, got tossed by myself and an off-duty bouncer. Who then spent 20 minutes in the parking lot trying to get us to fight him. Both the bouncer and I had maybe 150lbs on him and way more skill. He’d try to attack us, one of us would push or shove him away, he’d try to attack, one of us would grab him in a pain-compliance hold, he’d agree to leave, we’d release him, he’d try to attack…
Finally he called the cops, the proceeded to punch himself in the head to make it look like we roughed him up.
Too bad for him the first responding officer was both someone I knew casually and had locked up the moron before for fighting in public.

20

Once, and it turned out to be no biggee. An SUV managed to go sideways in front of my house and a) bulldoze my mailbox and three shrubs, then b) land in the creek across the way. I ran out and thought the car-in-creek had injuries, called 911, and the two passengers emerged shortly after, unharmed. The county deputy came by and wrote shit down, and it was all over. The teen driver of the SUV compensated me for the mailbox & shrubs.