# is it customary for 911 operators to be rude, combative bitches? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 4, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851 "2005-03-04T03:11:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/1 "2005-03-04T03:11:26Z")
I’m watching the Primetime Live special right now about Michael Wamsley and Janelle Hornickel, the couple who got lost and disoriented in freezing temperatures and froze to death in spite of continually calling 911. The thing that I can’t get over is that in all of these recorded conversations between them and 911 dispatchers, the 911 operaters are **fucking rude** and combative. The woman in particular that seemd to handle the bulk of the conversations seems genuinely irritated, rude,a nd combative the entire time. What the fuck? You’re supposed to be trying to save these people’s lives, and you’re acting genuinely annoyed! What’s wrong with you? ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/2 "2005-03-04T03:20:37Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > I’m watching the Primetime Live special right now about Michael Wamsley and Janelle Hornickel, the couple who got lost and disoriented in freezing temperatures and froze to death in spite of continually calling 911. The thing that I can’t get over is that in all of these recorded conversations between them and 911 dispatchers, the 911 operaters are **fucking rude** and combative. The woman in particular that seemd to handle the bulk of the conversations seems genuinely irritated, rude,a nd combative the entire time. > > What the fuck? You’re supposed to be trying to save these people’s lives, and you’re acting genuinely annoyed! What’s wrong with you? That’s horrible. Maybe the operators thought they were prank calls - but that doesn’t matter. They’re supposed to check out **every** call regardless. I’d like to see them have to explain their behaviour to the families of the victims. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/3 "2005-03-04T03:23:34Z")
No, they shouldn’t be, but I wouldn’t expect them to be a barrel of sunshine either. My sister worked for a few weeks as a 911 dispatcher with the county where I live. She couldn’t take it. They are constantly getting obscene calls, prank calls, people that call and then get angry or abusive when they can’t be magically “tracked” via the phone system or something… she’d have men call up to make lewd comments and try to have phone sex with her because apparently the operators can’t just arbitrarily hang up on people (she’d have to keep asking "do you have an emergency, sir?), had a guy once call because of some kind of accident he had while fucking his dog (!!)… you get the idea. Not to mention all your legitimate calls are always going to be people injured, sick, hysterical, in an emergency… dealing with that is very taxing. Sometimes you have to be curt to get the information you need out of them. As long as they’re willing to do their job and put up with all that, I think that’s what matters. I’ll complain about rude when the chick at the drive-through window forgets to ask me if I want some ketchup for my fries. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/4 "2005-03-04T03:29:20Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > That’s horrible. Maybe the operators thought they were prank calls - but that doesn’t matter. They’re supposed to check out **every** call regardless. I’d like to see them have to explain their behaviour to the families of the victims. This is over the course of like 4 hours. They definitely figured out that these people were lost somewhere, hallucinating, and in serious trouble. Even to the very end, the woman sounds like a rude, argumentative bitch without an ounce of compassion. You can actually listen to them [here](http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=1636&u_sid=1316263) - mp3 excerpts from the calls, and you can read transcripts of the 911 calls. It’s really creepy, weird, and chilling - they’re hallucinating, and have come up with some really weird, confused ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/5 "2005-03-04T03:30:46Z")
I know that if you call it they know where the call call came from. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/6 "2005-03-04T03:39:03Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > I know that if you call it they know where the call call came from. Probably technically, but so many people do it (including little kids just dialing it cause they heard it in school) that I don’t think it’s practical to go after them unless they’re serious offenders. I said something like that to my sister once, but I don’t recall what her exact answer was. > [@freejooky](#): > > This is over the course of like 4 hours. They definitely figured out that these people were lost somewhere, hallucinating, and in serious trouble. Even to the very end, the woman sounds like a rude, argumentative bitch without an ounce of compassion. I didn’t listen to the mp3s, admittedly, but what exactly would you like…? The operator was on the other end of the phone line, it’s not like she can personally go out and save them. Would you rather her get hysterical on the phone or tell them “I’m really sorry that you’re going to die”…? Start sobbing? Tell them in a patronizing tone it’s going to be all right? IMO emergency situation requires a certain amount of detachment and maybe that’s how this particular phone operator just managed to deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/7 "2005-03-04T03:43:22Z")
> [@jinwicked](#): > > I didn’t listen to the mp3s, admittedly, but what exactly would you like…? The operator was on the other end of the phone line, it’s not like she can personally go out and save them. Would you rather her get hysterical on the phone or tell them “I’m really sorry that you’re going to die”…? Start sobbing? Tell them in a patronizing tone it’s going to be all right? IMO emergency situation requires a certain amount of detachment and maybe that’s how this particular phone operator just managed to deal with it. There is, of course, a middle ground to be had. Do I expect the operator to be super-sweet and friendly? Of course not. But I also dont’ expect them to sound annoyed, pissed off, keep sighing really loud into the phone in irritation, practically start bitching at the disoriented person because they can’t give them proper directions to their location. Listen to the mp3’s, then respond. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/8 "2005-03-04T03:47:39Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > Listen to the mp3’s, then respond. Sorry, I would, but I’m uploading stuff and just haven’t got the time. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/9 "2005-03-04T04:01:28Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Isn’t it against the law to use 911 for anything but emergencies? Some states may have laws like that, but they must not have one here in Louisiana. I found that out a few months back when the people across the street were having nightly parking-lot parties, blasting rap music into the wee hours of the night. One weeknight at 3 AM, I couldn’t take it anymore and called the non-emergency number for the police. The operator told me to hang up and call 911! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/10 "2005-03-04T04:37:50Z")
Listened to all the MP3s. Having also read several accounts of the events, it’s clear the MP3s have been picked and chosen only to include the conversations that make the 911 operators sound bad. And even then it’s obvious why they’re frustrated; they’re trying to deal with two people on drugs babbling about mysterious strangers putting car parts in trees, and misdirecting the authorities’ attempts to find them, and who were behaving in a truly bizarre fashion. Even then, they try over and over to calm down the two kids and try to get straight answers from them. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/11 "2005-03-04T04:40:57Z")
Courtesy is overrated. Read the transcripts. You’ll be impressed. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/12 "2005-03-04T04:50:08Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Listened to all the MP3s. > > Having also read several accounts of the events, it’s clear the MP3s have been picked and chosen only to include the conversations that make the 911 operators sound bad. And even then it’s obvious why they’re frustrated; they’re trying to deal with two people on drugs babbling about mysterious strangers putting car parts in trees, and **misdirecting the authorities’ attempts to find them** , and who were behaving in a truly bizarre fashion. Even then, they try over and over to calm down the two kids and try to get straight answers from them. Yeah, cuz why would they want to keep from freezing to DEATH? And it must have been drugs. You wouldn’t hallucinate from merely FREEZING TO DEATH. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/13 "2005-03-04T05:18:40Z")
> [@if6was9](#): > > Yeah, cuz why would they want to keep from freezing to DEATH? Amphetamine psychosis, perhaps? > [@](#): > > And it must have been drugs. You wouldn’t hallucinate from merely FREEZING TO DEATH. They both tested postive for large amounts of methamphetamine and seemed to be less coherent in the earlier calls than the later calls. Really, read the transcripts. It took me a half-hour to plow through them all, but it really seems like the operators and authorities were trying their best to help. It’s hard to find someone when you ask them what their surroundings look like and their descriptions consist mostly of hallucinations. > [@](#): > > **Dispatcher** : Mike, Mike, I want to help you so bad, hon, I want to find out where you’re at. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/14 "2005-03-04T05:26:11Z")
Having read the transcripts I can’t really fault the 911 operators. They’re barely coherent, they’re on drugs, they’re misdirecting the people who might be able to look for them with non-sensical addresses because they’re so high, and they give only the vaguest muddled descriptions of where they are. What specifically would you have the 911 operators do differently? ---
**Author:** ![Sharky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sharky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sharky)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/15 "2005-03-04T05:27:33Z")
From: [http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u\_pg=1636&u\_sid=1317088](http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1317088) > [@](#): > > Viberg was on the phone with Wamsley for 32 minutes in one conversation. She said Saturday she wished Wamsley had admitted he had used methamphetamine. She said she could have corrected some of his delusions by saying, “Mike, that’s the drugs talking.” > > Dan Peterson, who heads Sarpy County’s 911 center, said his dispatchers did marvelous work that night. > > “She’s trying everything in her power,” Peterson said of Viberg. “Nothing worked. The drugs are the problem here.” > > In an earlier call, a Douglas County dispatcher had a gruff conversation with Wamsley. Wamsley said, “We’re out by all the gravel pit, out from like 75th and Poppleton.” > > Recognizing the absurd contradiction, the dispatcher said, “OK. I can’t help you if I don’t know where you are. . . . OK, you’re going to need to find out what is the closest street to you so I can send you some help. . . . We’ve already been to 75th and Poppleton - we couldn’t find you. . . . I can’t help you unless you can help yourself, OK?” > > Mark Conrey, director of Douglas County’s 911 system, said he understood the dispatcher’s tone and her directive to find the closest street. > > “She was frustrated and she was trying to bring the person to the reality that they had better focus on what they’re doing if they’re going to get help,” Conrey said. And if you’re in Omaha, as Wamsley contended, you should be near an intersection, Conrey said. So the dispatcher’s suggestion was valid, he said. > > Conrey said Douglas County dispatchers took a total of 124 calls between 12:15 a.m. and 1:45 a.m. on Jan. 5, the time in which the first calls from the couple came in. > > “She wasn’t as polite as maybe she could have been,” Conrey said of the dispatcher. But under the circumstances, he said, “I don’t think we could have handled the call in any other manner.” > > McMurray said good dispatchers must use all their wits to try to solve a problem. “If you’ve got somebody that’s hallucinating, that causes a layer of complexity that’s very difficult to deal with,” he said. “Sometimes you have to be very firm. Sometimes you have to put the burden on them.” > > Conrey said operators used various strategies, asking the same questions over and over, attempting to reason with the couple, trying to be forceful with them. > > “There’s times you have to scream at the person,” he said. “You have to get their attention.” I don’t think the dispathers were annoyed or rude, they were simply frustrated because they couldn’t get enough information from the couple to help them, and were trying to get them to be more specific about their location. > [@](#): > > Viberg said she has had sleepless nights. She loves the job, but a dispatcher pays a price. She did the best she could that night, she said, but she suffered from the outcome. > > “Tears, anger - all the things that grieving is,” she said. “Kids do stupid things. They don’t need to die for it.” Sounds like compassion to me. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/16 "2005-03-04T05:28:32Z")
> [@neutron star](#): > > Amphetamine psychosis, perhaps? > > They both tested postive for large amounts of methamphetamine and seemed to be less coherent in the earlier calls than the later calls. > > Really, read the transcripts. It took me a half-hour to plow through them all, but it really seems like the operators and authorities were trying their best to help. It’s hard to find someone when you ask them what their surroundings look like and their descriptions consist mostly of hallucinations. I did read them, and I agree, the operators seemed to do the best they could to help them. I just thought **RickJay** was over the top. _Misdirecting_ the authorities??? Who could get that from those transcripts? They obviously knew they were freezing to death. Does he think they wanted that? ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/17 "2005-03-04T05:41:35Z")
I read all of the transcripts, expecting to be outraged. And…I wasn’t at all. The dispatchers seemed reasonable. There were points where they told Wamsley to calm down, because they couldn’t understand him and he was just going off and wouldn’t respond to their questions. One dispatcher even showed compassion, which I didn’t expect at all: > [@](#): > > Wamsley: Yeah, she (garbled) breathing. Please (crying) can you send somebody here now? > > Dispatcher: Mike, Mike, I want to help you so bad, hon, I want to find out where you’re at. (from the 1:45 am call, part 3) The dispatchers were working with the information that Wamsley gave them. They sent people out to find them at the location that Wamsley kept mentioning. It sounds like they were wracking their brains trying to figure out where these people were. … And I just listened to the audio files. The dispatcher’s blunt in the second one. And in the other ones…they’re being exactly as I expect 911 dispatchers to be. They sound exactly like the dispatchers I’ve heard on every other 911 tape. Hell, the last call contains the above quote. I don’t understand the outrage. I mean, it’s terrible that two people died, and the police weren’t able to find them in time. But Wamsley and Hornickel were on meth, and they were panicking, and that’s not the best state to be in when you’re trying to get help from someone. Am I missing something? Was there a part where the dispatcher said, “Sorry, loser, you’re wasting my time, you’re gonna die”? ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/18 "2005-03-04T05:46:42Z")
**Freejooky** : could you maybe quote some of the parts where you thought the dispatchers were being “fucking rude”? Cause…I’m just not seeing it. Maybe in that “I can’t help you if you won’t help yourself” quote. Maybe. Show us the parts where the dispatchers aren’t trying to help Wamsley and Hornickel. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/19 "2005-03-04T05:47:10Z")
> [@if6was9](#): > > _Misdirecting_ the authorities??? Who could get that from those transcripts? Well, did they direct them to the correct location, or did they direct them to figments of their imagination? Sure the misdirection was unintentional, but it was misdirection all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851/20 "2005-03-04T05:53:19Z")
Well, that’s the thing - I’m not arguing that they didn’t try their hardest to save these kids. From reading the transcripts, they were really wracking their brains and working their asses off for hours and hours. What I’m specifically referring to is the bitchy, rude, angry, combative tone of voice that the woman uses from the very first call onward. Listen to Hornickel1.mp3 - she sounds like a violently angry housewife that’s finally snapped and is just short of \*screaming \* at an errant toddler. “Putting **WHAT** in the trees?” “ **HOW** are they getting the parts into the trees?” “What’s **YOUR** name, **HONEY**?” Maybe I’m being oversensitive, but the woman sounds like such an intolerable bitch! I agree with you, **AwSnappity** - it’s a common theme in any 911 call I’ve ever heard, and I just don’t understand that phenomenon, hence this pitting. It seems like 911 operators, who by default are going to be dealing with hysterical people in the midst of trauma, always sound bitchy/annoyed/bored/angry/irritated - basically, everything BUT helpful, friendly, calming, assertive, and comforting. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-customary-for-911-operators-to-be-rude-combative-bitches/292851.md?page=2)