‘If this is an emergency hang up and dial 911’

I had to call 911 a little over a year ago after witnessing a really bad car accident, and they asked me 20 fricking questions before routing me to an ambulance service company

I was literally on the phone for probably 3 minutes answering who, what, when, where, why, how?

at some point, I was like, there’s been a bad car accident just send an ambulance and a police officer. How fricking complicated is that?

It's a liability CYA. We have to do something similar when someone calls to schedule a therapy session. The office has to let them know that if they're in crisis they need to call 988 or go to a local hospital as we don't provide inpatient/crisis services.

TOO MUCH INFORMATION AN SHI

People call 911 for a headache.

And TV makes it worse, the PITT show tells all their patients to come back in a couple of days and they will change the bandage. What ER ever says that?

quote:

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I had to call 911 a little over a year ago after witnessing a really bad car accident, and they asked me 20 fricking questions before routing me to an ambulance service company
I was literally on the phone for probably 3 minutes answering who, what, when, where, why, how? at some point, I was like, there’s been a bad car accident just send an ambulance and a police officer.
How fricking complicated is that?

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As a 911 Board member, I understand and share your frustration. Please know there is a purpose for all the questions and the details / accuracy of the situation. The dispatchers would like to hang up quicker also, however, they follow National Standards dispatcher protocols.

Most emergency agencies are on the same dispatch software system, meaning, the information you provide over the phone and entered into the computer software, is seen in real time by police, Fire and EMS dispatchers.

Once a confirmed address is verified, resources are dispatched. Again, accuracy is paramount. Nothing worse than sending resources to the wrong location.

Additional info helps determine what else is needed such as, extrication, utilities for a down power line, safety issues, pre-arrival self-help medical instructions, etc.

While frustrating, that ‘useless info’ you think you are being bothered to be asked, actually has a purpose. In many cases, it may not be necessary. However, tele-communicators must do their job gathering information the same way for minor incidents and major detailed incidents.

While this answer may not satisfy those who think the process is stupid. Hopefully, you have gathered an understanding of the ‘why 911 asks so many questions’, so that if you need help, hopefully the person who calls 911 is able to assist the response by providing the requested information.

I was a police officer for 32 years and the system is fricked up.

THE END.

None of that explains why the frick my operator just HAD to input an intersection before sending help to me instead of telling the police and EMS, “hey, there’s a serious accident on Nicholson near WalkOns just off of the LSU campus”.

If there had been a shooting inside WalkOns, the operator wouldn’t have demanded to know which intersection the shooting was closest to.

911 operators and dispatchers work with a CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system. The system won't take "on Nicholson near WalkOns just off of the LSU campus” as an address. They must enter a numerical address or intersection. That said, most CAD systems allow for common-place names and the operator should have been able to enter @Walkons" and gotten a numerical address. Of course that depends on how accurate your location was. I've had people tell me a wreck is close to so-and-so simply because it was the only thing they could thing of for reference when the incident was actually over a mile down the road. That's why they ask questions. The process will be much faster of you just cooperate and answer their questions instead of yelling "Just send somebody".

Another important note to add is that the operator has often already sent the info to the dispatcher and help is on the way while they gather more information. The questions in most cases aren't delaying the response. But idiot callers who refuse to cooperate, and they are legion, actually can delay the response by not providing needed information.

Now they can ping your location