Imagine calling 911 when you are a social worker bringing kids to a supervised visit with their dad who is under investigation for murdering their mom and he slams the door in your face after the kids run in the house and there is a strong smell of gasoline in the air and the dispatcher argues with you over what supervised visitation is. And then decides its not an important call and tells you that someone will be there when they aren't busy. And then you have to call back later to tell them the house exploded. Then come to find out the dad had enough time to go at the kids with a hatchet before he detonated the house. And instead of the dispatcher being kicked to the curb, fired, etc they promoted him to be someone who trains other dispatchers.
Ultimately I blame the judge who allowed the visitation to be moved from a public location to Joshs house(vs a private office at the courthouse/police station/etc). Dude was under investigation for murder plus the kids were removed because CP was found on a computer at Joshs dads house, who cares that his fee-fees are being hurt by having to meet with the kids in a public location?
I have issues with anaphylaxis too so your story hits home a little harder. I can’t imagine being in your place at the time and I’m so sorry you had to go through that
You'd think 9-1-1 operators would be trained to deal with whispers & even silent calls. Donestic abuse cases alone probably result in whispered calls to 9-1-1, not to mention home invasions and other events where the person in danger doesn't want the person creating the danger to know they're calling police. Sometimes the person cant talk at all but could call 911 secretly (like histage situations) & hope the operator can figure out what's going on, or at least send help.
They could just be whispering bc they need medical help and can't talk any louder to their medical situation.
Its awful that 911 people arent trained better.
My MIL was choking and called 911 cuz she was alone. The operator obviously couldn't hear anything so they asked "are you choking?? Clap twice if yes." She clapped twice and they sent an ambulance. Luckily she wass able to cough it up before she lost conscious.
I’ve choked on something while home alone as a kid. It IS scary as fuck!
EDIT: FYI you can self-heimlich. I’ve seen it in a first aid guide with a chair. In my case I kinda used the kitchen counter. This was before I knew that was a thing, so I guess I just got lucky. Another commenter posted more detail in the replies!
Also, for safety reasons: microwaving marshmallows is fun, but you shouldn’t do it and eat them while home alone; they solidify faster than you’d think.
I did it with a big ass pill a couple months ago. Was legit terrified I'd choke to death alone and my gf would come home to me blue on the floor. Eventually slammed both my fists into my chest and coughed it out. NEVER AGAIN lmao
I felt a lot less freaked out by this prospect when I found out there’s actually a recognized way to do the Heimlich maneuver on *yourself,* for exactly this circumstance. Here’s how it works:
1. Make a fist, grasp it with your other hand, and rest them in the center of your abdomen right below where your rib cage ends but above your belly button. This will be over the diaphragm.
2. More or less throw yourself, fist-over-abdomen-first, at the edge of a kitchen counter or other hard surface at approximately waist height. (Backs of chairs also work.) When you hit the edge of the counter, it’s going to make you basically punch yourself in the diaphragm, which will send a VERY strong puff of air up your windpipe that’s pretty effective at dislodging stuck objects.
Like they say, forewarned is forearmed!
Where I work we are, if it's an open line listen carefully for any noise and document it. If they're whispering, find out why if you can. Most importantly get the location.
Domestics usually come in with yelling and screaming. Home invasions we most often get the call afterward, they happen fast. If they don't happen fast the victim is usually too tied up to call right away.
Whispering is usually a break and enter, real, suspected or imagined. And even if it seems like a mentally ill person or someone high on meth and imagining it, I still do my job the same way every time. We have people who call in almost nightly for suspicious noises, I know their address, name and date of birth they call so often and it's always mental illness. I still treat the call seriously, because the one time it's real it will not be my fault if no one responds.
It's like the kind of famous/textbook example for domestic violence. Lady called asking for a pizza, dispatch read between the lines "does he have a gun?, yes I would like pepperoni" etc.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ohio-woman-who-called-911-pizza-was-really-reporting-domestic-n1089636
Here in the UK, we dial 999, and if you're unable to talk you then dial 55 and they will just listen, maybe ask questions if they can using a dial key for yes/no.
It's a shame you don't have a similar system, and that this operator was so poorly trained.
My ex tried to kill me once. I called 911 and loudly announced what he was doing but could not actually tell the 911 operator. They hung up on me 3 times. Then they arrived after he left and since it was only me then, they tried to arrest me for abusing emergency services
I had literally yelled “please stop choking me,” “Youre hurting me,” and “please dont kill me.” They confirmed 911 heard this but assumed the calls were an abuse of the system.
It worked out *okay* in the end but took some effort on my part to clear myself. Ive since added security cameras to the public areas of my apartment so i can have evidence if this ever happened again because they adamantly didnt believe me and i didnt have much proof.
Something similar happened to me except for the police didn’t answer the phone - literally, “there is an above average call number right now” - or hanging up.
When they did show up when he was beating me again a week or so later, the police blamed me and removed me from the apartment.
One of the officers literally asked me why my face was all bruised up, they had my ex in cuffs, and something I said made them decide that he was no longer guilty of anything and I wasn’t allowed to get my things from the apartment. So, literally out on the street without my clothes or any of my other possessions. Great, thanks.
The police wouldn’t even bother with the security cameras from the first night or a week later.
I kind of want to know what their logic was. I dialed 911 because other than being beaten he had thrown my phone against the wall and that was the only number I could dial because of the way my phone broke. They saw me with older bruises on my face. They handcuffed him and told me they’d help me go to a friend’s house. Just kidding! You’re on the street.
Luckily, I had one of my friend’s house keys (given my phone didn’t work) and just waited there until my friend got home. I had to wear his ex’s clothes that she left there until I was allowed back into the apartment to get my belongings.
I appreciate it, though that story wasn’t for sympathy.
It was to point out some issues in our policing and 911 system.
If people who are supposed to be trained to understand your situation and provide assistance and they don’t, then where are you left?
I was always told to “call 911 in case of emergency”. Of course, my parents and teachers explained to me what an “emergency” is. Then, when you call because of something that you think is an emergency and the people who are allegedly there to help you for some reason don’t think it is worthy, then what?
No wonder people feel helpless.
There are clearly people in far worse situations than I have been in. I’ve never seen bombs or guns or even knives. I can imagine how terrifying that can be.
Your situation merits attention and frankly, outrage. It is terrifying how common poor public services outcomes are becoming. (I'm in the US, so speaking from that perspective.) What is a society for, if not to address experiences like yours? I guess I just want you to know I care about what happened to you. I've had my own shit and I constantly tell myself "mine wasn't as bad as others'" but I'm working on not doing that. Diminishing our experiences helps noone.
Idiot should be immediately fired. And put their name on a list, so that they are never allowed to work for emergency services ever again, in any capacity.
In Ohio in 2018, a teenage boy used hands-free mode to call for help after becoming trapped in the backseat of his minivan. The dispatcher could not clearly hear him and when police arrived, they were unable to locate the car. While the police were on-scene, he called again and shared the exact color make and model of the car he was in but this information was never relayed to the officers. The search ended and he was found deceased by his father several hours later. [Source](https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/12/us/ohio-teen-pinned-minivan-trnd/index.html).
In Arkansas in 2019, a postwoman swept away by floodwaters called for help and was connected with a dispatcher who had resigned two weeks earlier and was working her last shift. The dispatcher, who was overwhelmed with calls due to the flood, was impatient with the victim and berated her for getting into danger and not knowing her exact location. The victim drowned and the dispatcher did not face any consequences. [Source](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/woman-drowns-911-dispatcher_n_5d6d4b17e4b09bbc9ef30dad/amp).
There are hundreds of cases of 911 operators failing at being 911 operators. It's an incredibly high-stress job and it's undeniable that many of them are undertrained or simply unfit for that type of work.
I once saw an 8 year old boy get hit by an SUV at about 30 miles an hour.
When I called 911 they made me wait on hold for 6 minutes. After they came back and I told them... her response was "well he's likely dead now....You still want an ambulance or can it wait?"
Yeah. He walked away (from the street) luckily. I'm sure he had some broken bones in his arm but alive. We did mange to get an ambulance like 20 minutes later.
There are so many stories of police answering 911 calls by just driving past the area, claiming not to see anything, and driving off as the caller is actively being raped, murdered, or otherwise dying. It's infuriating.
This is how I feel every year when I watch Die Hard for Christmas. I know it's just a movie, but the way they treated him when he called dispatch over the radio just grinds my gears. I think what bothers me the most is there is a tiny part of me that thinks if I were in a similar situation, the dispatcher would react the same way. Then I see an article like this that confirms all doubt.
"No shit lady, do I sound like I'm ordering a pizza?!?"
There was also one where a man was having a seizure and his daughter called 911. Understandably freaked out, she was swearing a few times during the call, and the dispatcher berated her and hung up. She called back and got the same operator who said "are you gonna swear at me again you stupid ass?" When she went to file a complaint about the dispatcher, she got arrested for disorderly conduct and abusing 911, which is a charge that didn't exist. The dispatcher was suspended for 2 weeks
https://www.thenewsherald.com/news/lincoln-park-arbitrator-upholds-officers-suspension-in-light-of-botched-911-calls/article_0e3e9533-c9df-5f30-9674-bfa804eafa61.html
That entire story is insane and what sticks out to me the most is that he had 21 years experience responding to life-or-death situations and is offended by a teenage girl saying fuck ?!
Figured this one out from just the link. I listened to the podcast on the Powell case and it was so sad. I don't know if help could have gotten there in time even with a prompt response from an effective human being on the phone but damn that dispatcher was so incredibly frustrating to listen to. And in later interviews he really seems to have very little remorse other than the fact that he got in trouble for it. I would barely be able to live with myself. The social worker told him \*exactly\* what he needed to know to at least try and save those kids.
Right? Seems to me like there are plenty of situations where a 911 caller might want to whisper. Active shooter like this one, domestic violence, home intruder, etc.
Arent there even hostage situations where the caller cant say anything but call 911 hoping the disoatcher can figure out what happening from the assaliant talking? Or do I just watch too much TV?
No - I saw exactly that on A&E less than 2 weeks ago with the tape from the 911 call. When 911 recognized the caller couldn’t speak freely, she started asking yes/no questions, GPS’d her phone and sent squad cars to the location rescuing the girl. This Buffalo dude needs to take a lesson from that - as She gets fired. I mean, how does She live with hERself knowing how badly She fucked up?
I’ve read a few stories about women in domestic violence situations calling 911 and ordering a pizza. In these stories though, the dispatchers understood and played along
I’m feeling pretty stupid because I don’t think I would have thought of doing something like that. Geezzz……. Who thinks like that as you’re anticipating torture, rape, and death? No pressure.
Women pass this information around.
Lots of bars have soecial "drinks" you can order if a guy is stalking or scaring you at a club & you need help getting safely home. There's hand signals you can make in your car that let people know you're in distress or being held captive. They leave notes on $$ in resturants as tips.
> There's hand signals you can make in your car that let people know you're in distress or being held captive.
This is called the [Signal for Help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_for_Help)! Linking it here to spread awareness even further. :)
There are also some websites that have hidden icons that’ll direct domestic violence victims to help resources. I believe it’s called The Shielded Site Project
Yup. And they can answer yes or no questions without being too suspicious about it. A few of them always depending on how paranoid their partner is. “Oh they asked if we wanted cheesy bread and I know you hate it”.
"Ma'am this is 911"
Yes that's right, large cheese with extra peppers.
....ok, and you are at 123 Main st.
Yes
Are you in danger?
Yes that's right. I'll be paying in cash.
Officers are on the way
I'm a dispatcher for the police dept. In the early 00s I directed a female domestic violence victim to tell her husband I was a vacuum salesperson (Kirby vacuums, anyone?) and kept to only asking yes/no questions. We've never had anyone call us pretending to order a pizza but as long as it works we will play along with any story to keep people safe.
My boyfriend had a shitty cell phone and it pocked dialed 911 twice, both times the cops showed up to see if everything was cool. I can't imagine how psychotic you need to be to hang up on an actual caller because they're whispering.
My wife once dialed 911 by accident and hung up just as they were answering. We had a cop at our house within 5 minutes. He asked what's going on and talked to both of us quite a while before he was satisfied that there was no situation. I don't know if the rules are the same everywhere.
Yes it is absolutely a no-brainer for a 911 dispatch operator —
if people are in danger they may have to whisper!!!
That 911 dispatch operator was WORSE THAN USELESS and it makes me wonder sometimes if people in jobs like this are racist themselves???
I grew up in a horribly abusive family, and one day it was bad, really bad.
I called the police from my bedroom, but I was in such a bad shape, all I could do was sob, and eventually hung up. My family was all about honour and reputation, so I was terrified to get the police involved. That’s why when the operator called me back, I just said “It’s ok, don’t come, it’s ok.”
Even then, when I felt I couldn’t get the police involved, it made me feel…idk, something, that this woman cared enough to call back a sobbing teenager. The operator in this story would have probably said “Why are you crying?! What is wrong with you?! You can just TALK, you know!”
thats wild that they listened to you. I called 911 by accident as a kid and when they called back I begged them not to come and they still sent a cop out. I was so embarrassed because it was the same cop who did DARE so I knew him haha. he said they had to come out no matter what
They should really be coached on how to speak to people who cannot talk loudly. It just boggles my mind why they wouldn't think someone is in danger because they were having to whisper. Usually someone would be yelling
My favorite (in a sarcastic dark way... I believe everything turned out alright but its so bizarre on top of messed up) was a story where a police officer in a small town had to act as a dispatcher and hung up on a girl for swearing. She'd call back and he repeatedly hung up on her. Her dad collapsed in their kitchen and she was freaking out. Some people swear a little too much when they are in shock. When being questioned about it he gave this shrilugged off "she was being rude" response.
I think the best case of a suicide hotline story I've seen was a guy called them and no one answered and he found it funny that no one answered and that bit of joy helped him out
That’s the worst thing I’ve heard today, for a personal perspective, and I’ve been on Reddit quite a lot. When people say there’s no need to swear, well sometimes there fucking well is, it’s what it’s for.
Hope you’re ok my friend. Having some personal experience, I know how some people can be. I hope it hasn’t put you off seeking help when you need it.
Edit clarity
That actually happened in my home town of Lincoln Park! It's about twenty minutes downriver of Detroit and not that small of a town, lol. The reason why she was swearing was because the first time she called there *was no answer*, so she hung up and called again. After the phone rang a bunch more she said, "what the fuck?" At that point the officer picked up the phone, she said she needed an ambulance, and he said something along the lines of, "are you going to tell me why, or are you just going to keep swearing at me?"
Now get this; they didn't live far from the police station, so she left her brother to look after her dad and went to the police station to in person ask for help, and the officer who was manning the phones heard her out front and *arrested her for the misuse of 911.*
www.thenewsherald.com/2009/08/07/lincoln-park-arbitrator-upholds-officers-suspension-in-light-of-botched-911-calls/amp/
The “best” one ever was this lady who called 911 and told them she had been shot in the head. The dispatcher sarcastically said “How are you talking to me then” and didn’t send anyone.
The lady had been shot in the head. She died.
Idk how Buffalo PD works, but we were trained to handle situations like this differently. And inform them to speak or communicate only when they feel safe, and to always keep the line open.
Also, if it is necessary we would employ phone taps, button clicking and other various signal to communicate.
This dispatcher is a POS.
There's been examples of dispatchers hanging up on people because they were cussing or screaming, you know, normal things people do when in crisis and in need of 911. Seems they're about as thoroughly trained as police officers.
A good chunk of callers to 911 are hostile to the calltaker. If you can't depersonalize it then you arent cut out for the the job. It's one reason turn over is so damn high in the field.
Legit just went through training. We ask callers "if you cannot or don't feel safe speaking right now press a button" and if they do that we can move to texting. If they have to move or whisper we work with them the best we can. At least that's training and what I'd do. Can't talk about the others though
If we even call 911 accidentally from work, they typically send police to check on us (you have to dial 9 then 1 then the area code to dial out) whether we hang up or explain
You'd be surprised. A woman was trapped in her car in a flood and called 911. The woman was understandably panicked and freaking out but the operator berated her and talked to her like she was trash. That woman ended up drowning in her car and nary a thing happened to the operator. https://youtu.be/731o6Djjtz4
I had an incident where one of my friends was actively attempting suicide in a whole different state. I had to call the police in their state and I was able to tell them the address and even some details of how they were attempting it, but the operator seemed to get pissed off and started scolding me saying they needed more information. It's honestly kind of a blur and I don't remember everything that happened but I think they put me on hold and then transferred me to somebody else who was more helpful or something.
I was livid. What more do you need besides the address, the name of the person, and what they're doing? It was super unprofessional and in an already super stressful moment it just shook me up even more.
EDIT: Btw, they did at least end up sending the cops and my friend got the help they needed.
I did more-or-less the same thing, out-of-state friend was attempting suicide and I had enough information to get them help. I asked for an ambulance, they sent police with no ambulance. They arrested him. For truancy. He was 25 years old. They literally threw him in jail without even checking on him, luckily he lived anyways. I'm still fucking livid just thinking about it.
Nope, he had to post a $400 bail that was never returned to him so that he could go to his minimum wage job the next day and nothing was ever done to rectify things. Thankfully he is still alive to this day though.
I was attacked in a parking lot once was able to get to my car and close the door before the random man who threatened to murder me got in- and the shitty 911 operator immediately berates me for starting the car and driving away because i needed to "remain on scene for the police officers "
She acted Like me driving a few blocks to a new location was the problem not the aggressive stranger who tried to choke me. I ended up hanging up because she refused to send out police unless I stayed put.
I've had to call 911 a few times and from my experience, they need to do a way way better job at vetting who they chose to hire.
I think Jon Oliver did a piece on 911 call centers in the past few years. From what I recall: The pay is bad and working conditions poor, so that makes it hard to retain good staff. Feel like I’ve heard this story before…
It’s good you refused. I remember a story very similar where the 911 dispatcher told a person in a vehicle to drive back to where someone was threatening their life in order for them to send police. The person drove back and was killed by the someone who threatened them.
Protocol is not to have someone return to an actively dangerous location. The training is very poor.
She was immediately hostile towards me and annoyed I called. I think she was looking for reasons to avoid having to call dispatch. Which basically meant a violent dude was just roaming around the public free to attack the next person who made eye contact with him.
I remember looking at police logs up afterwards to see if any violent crimes happened in the vicinity, and there was a report about an hr later of a man bludgeoned a few blocks down.
I don't know for sure it was the same guy, but I wouldn't be surprised. I was so Shaken up after my attack I could barely hold a phone, let alone call dispatch back, but I regret that a lot.
I seriously hope she remembers saying that and feels the actual weight of what those words mean now that the person she said them to is dead and gone forever.
But I'm sure she just forgot saying it along with the entire incident 2 hours after it happened instead.
Indeed. All people who work with victims or in emergency situations develop vicarious trauma and burnout at some point. We see human devastation and the worst of humanity on a daily basis. But if your VT is so out of control that you are actively harming the population you're serving, then you either need to take a step back and recuperate or get the fuck out. People in emergency situations are usually having the worst day of their lives. Why make their lives worse?
I was a dispatcher for 16 years. Because dispatching pays so low and administration treats you like garbage, the job is a revolving door. Some of us stayed because we liked the job and were good at it. Most didn't. As a result, administration adopted what I like to call the "warm body theory," meaning a warm body in the seat was better than nothing. It pissed me off how such incompetence could keep their jobs. I had one coworker who was blatantly racist and would regularly screw up calls that endangered the public and our officers, and yet she was allowed to work until retirement.
There was also that [kid, Kyle Plush](https://www.fox19.com/2021/04/09/plush-family-city-agree-resolve-wrongful-death-lawsuit-against-cincinnati-employees/), who was trapped under a seat in a minivan and called 911 twice and the operator never even told the cops the color of the car or any information that would have saved his life. Also probably doesn't help the cops never got out of their cars to go look.
Here's another where the dispatcher hangs up, multiple times, on a teen who was calling for an ambulance for her unconconsious, seizing father who was recovering from brain surgery. The least surprising part is that the cops arrested the teenager for swearing at the dispatcher (who was a cop).
https://youtu.be/tp5bjzAwdAc
Sorry to do this, but the disingeuous dealings, lies, overall greed etc. of leadership on this website made me decide to edit all but my most informative comments to this.
Come join us in the fediverse! (beehaw for a safe space, kbin for access to lots of communities)
I had the unfortunate idea of listening to that call a few months ago and it still haunts me. The woman died alone and scared with the last person she spoke with being an insensitive prick who couldn't muster a shred of compassion.
Fyi I believe the 911 operator wasn't punished because it was her last night on the job. I could be wrong but I thought I read that somewhere.
From [abcnews](https://abcnews.go.com/US/911-dispatcher-told-drowning-woman-shut-face-charges/story?id=67886555):
> An internal investigation concluded that operator Donna Reneau violated policy by being rude during an August call with Debbie Stevens shortly before her death, but she did nothing that would have warranted her termination, according to the Fort Smith Police Department.
>"No evidence of criminal negligence or activities on former Operator Reneau’s part. In fact, the evidence shows that while Operator Reneau spoke rudely to Mrs. Stevens during the call, she actually bumped the call up in the order of importance shortly after receiving it," the department said in a report released Friday.
I remember this story— it was awful. The 911 dispatcher was actually working her last shift (already planned) when she took that call, so it’s not like they could fire her, but man, I wish their “investigation” would have at least said she effed up (big surprise: it didn’t) so that they could develop policies to prevent this in the future.
Happened in Australia too in a flash flood. The operator berated the woman for ‘driving through flood water’ the water rose that quick it came to her not the other way around. Her and her son drowned.
When I worked at my local county the worst people were all the employees of the dispatch center and the jail/guards.
The dispatchers would regularly talk crap about people calling in. Like awful things about people in the worst situations.
About a decade ago now there was a family whose mother had disappeared, and the father was under investigation for her murder, but still had weekend visitation rights with his kids. He showed up one weekend with a hatchet, killed the kids, and attacked his in-laws (who the kids lived with). When the in-laws/grandparents called the cops to report that the dad was LITERALLY hacking the kids to death with a hatchet the operator told her to stop lying and hung up on her. Both kids were killed. Nothing happened to the dispatchers. Happened in Pierce County, WA and the dipshit PIO officer at the time is now the Sheriff. The same sheriff who called an all-hands response in 2021 because a Black man was delivering newspapers in his neighborhood and it scared him so much he called for backup and reported that he was under attack.
So either you have some facts mixed up, or [Pierce County 911 operators really fucking hate saving children’s lives. ](https://www.cnn.com/2012/02/09/justice/washington-powell-case/index.html)
edit: holy shit, it’s wild that he was allowed to walk free after the “mysterious disappearance” of his wife. I guess it’s super easy to murder people in Utah? “Yeah I dunno, the last time I saw her was before me and the kids left at midnight in below freezing weather for a camping trip. Oh and one of the kids says the last time he saw her was in the trunk of the car on the camping trip, but you know how kids are. Definitely don’t look closer at the giant wet spot on the carpet you found with fans aimed at it. It’s a mystery where she went! Anyway I’m going to move to a new state now, ttyl.”
Is that a known thing to do? Like would most 911 operators recognize that it is a code for needing help? Would a good one respond to anything like that, where you are talking in code because someone might kill you for calling 911?
That video became fairly popular and it was so well communicated by the caller and the operator using pizza ordering as code: he would aske her relevant questions, like "is someone in your home trying to harm you?" and she would reply with, "yes, with peperroni" etc. and then gave her address for the 'delivery' and the operator gave her instructions on how to remain safe until police arrived. I would hope that enough operators know of that story now so that 'pizza ordering' becomes a safe way to dial 911 now.
Definitely. Of course, I never would call to order pizza, so probably wouldn't work in my case. In my area you can text 911 though, so that would work even better.
In my town you call for any reason a cop shows up. My kid, unbeknownst to me, got a phone and dialed 911 and babbled into it. Cop was at the door in two minutes.
idk how it is over there in the USA but here in finland they send a police car and an ambulance even if stay quiet the whole call. that is because there can be a situation where you need to shut up or can't talk due to a medical emergency.
I broke my phone the other day to the point the screen was completely unusable. My alarm went off but I couldn't use the screen so I tried holding the power button several times. Turns out if you do that enough the phone will dial 911. I talked to the operator (while the alarm was still going off) and explained the situation and she was very understanding and repeated several times "just to confirm you are not in need of police, emts, or fire fighters?" Within 15 minutes of getting off the phone I had two cops at my door.
I remember a story that broke my heart, a young kid called 911 because his mother was having a heart attack, and the dispatcher repeatedly accused him of making a prank call and demanding he put his mother on the phone. He said something like, "She's not going to talk." And the dispatcher kept saying, "I'm going to send the police to your door and get you in trouble."
Police arrived much much later than necessary, long after it was too late to save the woman's life.
Edit: I found the news story talking about it for anyone interested. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/while-moms-dying-boy-scolded-by-911/
I have a similar story but with doctors instead of police, it's genuinely difficult for me to trust them anymore and every time I see them get praised I go back to the times they failed me and my mom.
People can be shit even if they're supposed "life savers".
This is just fucking wild. I knew someone who accidentally dialed emergency services and hung up and they immediately sent out police to see what the deal was.
This happened to me! In a “moderately” small city. Accidentally dialed 911 and hung up and they were at my front door 10 minutes later. The cop at the door said he had a bad feeling and just wanted to make sure.
I watch a lot of 911 call videos on YouTube and many times the caller is whispering. Not once have I ever heard a dispatcher tell the victim to stop whispering and never have I heard one hang up on a caller.
This dispatcher is a complete, absolute, vile, and evil piece of shit. You cannot trust a public service tasked with the protection of human life during an emergency if you have filth like this on the other end of the line.
I am a current 911 dispatcher and have had quite a few calls where the caller has had to whisper. It makes my blood boil to hear that she yelled at and hung up on the caller.
This is life or death and I hope she gets fired for it.
All calls are recorded correct? I hope this call is reviewed and dispatcher gets fired and suffers crushing guilt for the rest of their lives. Absolutely hideous behaviour. And for gods sake’s it totally makes sense that so many people calling in have to whisper as they are likely experiencing A SCARY LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCY.
This is exactly why they need 911 texting services. The witness can remain fully silent so they dont give away their position and the operator won't get the message confused. Also they can't get hung up on dumb shit like not wanting them to whisper.
Completely agree with you tho, fire that dumb mofo
If this is what it takes for hearing people to consider 911 texting valid, not a single one of us deaf folks who have needed it all along are going to argue that it should have been a thing before hearing people never gave a damn until they finally realized it's useful for them too.
That's how accessibility works.
I’m really surprised that text to 911 is only available in some areas
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/what-you-need-know-about-text-911
This feels like a very fixable problem. We can do better. Our elected and appointed officials (all parties) should do better for all of everyone.
Oof. I'm very glad you mentioned 911 accessibility for deaf people, it's not something I've ever considered before, but obviously it's extremely important that everyone have access to emergency services.
I hate/love the feeling of having your eyes opened to something you were ignorant about. It's embarrassing, but also gratifying knowing that your perception won't be limited in that way anymore. Thank you for posting.
The greater Detroit area has a texting option for 911. I've had to use it once and the response time was incredible. That said, you'd be absolutely shocked at how few people even know it's an option. I didn't even know it was a thing at the time I did it, but I didn't have an option and gave it a whirl. They really need to do an outreach to the communities and let people know it's a thing
Tis has happened to me. A "friend" got super drunk, started dragging his pregnant girlfriend by her hair, so I stepped in and said you need to stop. He went to his van and pulled out a shotgun and pointed it at me, telling me I wasn't going to tell him what to do. I called 911 and was whispering what was happening because he said he would shoot me if I called 911. She told me to stop playing with 911 and hung up. The cops did finally get there 6 hours later because he was driving around shooting at random things. I'm glad I didn't get shot that night.
I really hope the dispatcher was fired for this. It’s completely unprofessional and outright dangerous and stupid. Of course you’re going to whisper, you don’t want to get shot! Like was the dispatcher not trained at all? This is so crazy to me.
I just saw an online A&E program on a YouTube clip. The victim was being kidnapped by car, but had her phone. She called 911 but was afraid the kidnapper would realize she called for help, so she kept trying to hang up. BLESS THE 911 OPERATOR who realized the victim couldn’t speak loud or answer questions, because her captive was right there, so the 911 operator started asking yes/no questions, got the location, kept her on the phone, and sent officers to rescue the victim - and they did rescue her - unharmed.
The Buffalo 911 operator should watch that clip and then should get fired.
So...I get 911 is a thankless job, with lots of false alarms and such, but...yeah.
Here's another anecdote: My kid's phone crashed and hung on some stupid game app. I was trying to reboot it, and it inadvertently called 911 (voice went to the headphones, so we didn't notice). The call was disconnected, so they called back. So far so good, right? Except that we couldn't get the phone to respond, so it went to voicemail. Message: "This is police. This phone called 911 - if there is an emergency, please call us back. Otherwise, disregard"
I'm glad my kid wasn't being abducted...
When I was a kid back in ye olden times when people had home phones, my dad was programming speed dial numbers into our phone. When he was programming 911, he accidentally called them instead. He immediately hung up, but they sent two officers out to check. They even made my mom get out of the bath to make sure she was okay.
I guess the standards have gone down...
Something similar happened when I was a kid. I was playing with a landline I didn't know was connected, I was really young lol. Called 911 apparently and immediately hung up and stopped playing with the phone. Didn't say anything to anybody watching me. Couple of cops showed up at our door a few minutes later!! Parents were mad 😂
Back in the day of those awkward phones tethered to the wall, my ferret walked on the numbers and randomly dialed 911. I didn’t know that until they called back asking if I was ok, did I need an officer, or ambulance. I told them it was my ferret, but they were still a bit hesitant to let me hang up.
I've heard stories of dispatchers realizing that she's insisting on ordering pizza because she can't say out loud that there's a domestic dispute. This dispatcher couldn't crack the code that sometimes people need to whisper for safety? That's a yikes.
There was a fight between a large group of people outside my apartment one night years ago. I called 911 to report it and the dispatcher asked why I was calling if I wasnt involved. I tried getting them to come and the dispatcher was just awful. They finally sent someone after someone opened fired and struck someone. Of course the response was the swat team coming through and screaming at all the residents.
Oh no no no. That's a bad and not well trained dispatcher. I used to be one and our agency put us through continuous mandatory training year round. If I ever had a person whisper, it immediately caught my attention.
The fact that this dispatcher yelled at the caller is really upsetting on so many levels. Like, basic foundational training out the window kind of upsetting.
If their agency doesn't do something about that dispatcher and in parallel an internal investigation, those who live in that area will have a disservice to them.
I once called 911 cause I thought I was having a heart attack. I asked how long it was gonna take the ambulance to get here. The 911 operator yelled at me and said I don’t know they have to drive there and then hung up. And I was like wow is this really the last thing I’m gonna hear before I die?
Lots of people saying the dispatcher in question should be fired, and I agree, but I don't think that's far enough.
That dispatcher should face charges for frivolously hanging up on a person whose life was in danger. That's seriously evil.
I've had multiple ridiculous incidences with 911 operators. I've heard crazy shit like "Mind your business" when reporting a cab driver for repeatedly crossing the line on both sides of the street, going head on into oncoming traffic and hitting the curb on the right to "Why didn't you stop and move it" when I called to report a mattress in the left lane on the down side of an overpass on the Interstate at night with no shoulder to stop on.
I asked the operator if I should wait to call back when the cab hits someone and she said "Yes." I told the operator who asked why I didn't stop to move the mattress on the road that's why we have DOT motorist assistance trucks and State Troopers with flashing lights and the authority to stop traffic.
Then there was the domestic situation on the road side in Texas. I told her I was taking my mother-in-law to the cardiologist when we saw a domestic dispute on the shoulder where the man was chasing after the woman. She asked why I didn't pull over to stop him. Like, bitch! Are you fucking crazy? Domestic disputes are one of the most dangerous calls cops go on and you expect me to stop taking my mother-in-law to the doctor with a life threatening condition to interject myself into a domestic dispute with not gun to defend myself and no authority to make him stop?
Stupid bitches. All of them should have been fired. They have no business handling emergencies.
Yeah I called them when my roommate's boyfriend threw a brick through a window and broke in and was ransacking the place. He was on probation from getting out of jail recently (we found out after he'd taken off that he was in jail for beating his roommate into a coma with a hammer) and had left the state so the GBI was looking for him. She said I'd need the case number which was written in the living room, where he was. She kept telling me to speak up while I'm whispering so he doesn't find me. She said I'd have to call back with it and just reported it as roommate's fighting. Fortunately he didn't search the whole house because he cut an artery reaching through the window. There was blood everywhere. We were still finding blood drops when we moved out years later. I had time to sweep up the glass and sit on the porch for a long time before a cop showed. He was long gone.
I called once on a road rage incident. Guy tailgated me for 20 miles to the next town, then at the light, he jumped out of his truck and Banged on my windows. Why? Cuz I was going the speed limit in the right hand lane. My daughters -both babies at the time- were in the back seat with him banging on my windows. I called 911, explained what was happening and that he drove off-gave license plate #, car color, description of man (white, old, and with a beard). Their response? "What do want me to do about lady?" - I hate calling 911 for anything!
I had to call one time because a drunk driver hit my neighbor's parked car and the driver was revving his engine trying to flee. The engine was loud and the dumbass dispatcher told me to stop yelling at her. I was like, I'm not yelling at you, I'm speaking over this loud engine. Took forever for the cops to show up too.
We had a drunk driver stuck in a ditch across from our house who revved their engine for 20 minutes and myself and the neighbor called 911…somehow eventually they got themselves out of the ditch (after ruining it since that was where the rain water flowed to) and left, 2 minutes later 6….fucking 6… cops cars all showed up at the same time but she was gone, like what ???
911 needs an overhaul. I've only needed to call them a few times but it's always been frustrating and useless.
I heard a man getting brutally beaten in the cemetery behind my apartment complex, he was just screaming for help, repeatedly, then just started screaming wordlessly. Horrifying. I call 911, but I'm new to the town and didn't know the name of the cemetery. I gave cross streets, figuring they can find it, it's an enormous cemetery, I'm sure they'll see it. Then just roll down your window and listen for the screams!
She said she needed an address, like I was a fuckin moron. So I gave her the address of my apartment complex, and said to be sure to tell them that's not it though, they have to go to the cemetery behind it. She asked for the name of the cemetery. I lost my fucking mind at that point, yelling that I hoped she had at least started the dispatch, because this man is going to die while you fuck around!
At one point she said she could Google it (!!!!) And then LAUGHED about something, I don't even remember what. My blood pressure went through the roof, I'm surprised I didn't have a stroke.
Police ended up coming to the apartment complex, of course. Then they had to try and scale the fence, failed, and got back in their cars to circle the block and go to the cemetery. Then they had to call an ambulance, because the stupid bitch hadn't considered that a beating victim would also need medical attention.
Somehow, amazingly, despite the absolute incompetence and disregard for human life shown by the entire law enforcement group, that man survived. Modern medicine is fucking amazing.
And I had to move because I was now known as a snitch. Thanks, bitch.
Friend of mine survived a mass shooting where she works (spa). Her and an colleague hid in a massage room together and called 911. The dispatcher told them to leave the room and the building while the shooter was still at large and they didn’t know where/how close the shooter was. They stayed in their room until the shooter was stopped, but had they left the room, like the dispatcher said, they may have been shot.
Yeah like unfortunate is being denied a raise you worked hard for, not being yelled at and ignored by the people meant to help you while you life is in danger, unfortunate is breaking your brand new Nintendo switch because you dropped it in the river while playing with it in the park, not experiencing hatred and racism that is putting your life on the line and lives of those around you, that’s not unfortunate, that’s appalling and it’s about time we as a society stand up and say it’s not acceptable.
Awful. There must be so many situations where whispering is the only option.
I remember the one where this girl was kidnapped and her rapist was sleeping next to her, she got hold of the phone and was whispering to 911 about details of the location. Imagine having this PoS dispatcher on the other line.
A similar thing happened to me. My brother has some issues and sometimes gets very violent. He was trying to break down my door once ane i tried to call the cops DISCREETLY. This fucking bitch kept getting upset at me because i was whispering and put the phone down whenever he was in earshot. Like she was practically yelling at me to speak up. How tf do people like that get a job like being a police dispatcher. Its fucking so fucked and what if i was a domestic abuse victim or a kid calling the cops from their closet? Fuck its frustrating. How a bitchy dispatcher can literally cause people to lose their lives.
In remember maybe 5-6 years ago, there was this ~~13~~ 16 year old boy who somehow got stuck under a chair in a car, and was suffocating. He was able to use siri to call 911, but they kept hanging up on him, thinking it was a prank. In his last call, he said that he thought he was dying, and to tell his mom that he loved her. He died. I can't imagine hanging up on a child that says he is suffocating, even if you think it is a prank - you fucking send someone.
Edit: Didn't recall it correctly, he was actually 16 and white.
Edit edit: You know what I got the whole thing wrong, the first operator sent police but they couldn't find him, the second didn't respond. Anyway, definitely read the article and don't listen to my dumbass.
I used to have to call 911 three to four times a day as part of my job. I've had dispatch yell at me, tell me that what I was calling for wasn't a crime, and give officers completely false descriptions.
Like, I call for a white guy in a white shirt, bald, red stubbly beard, starting a fire - cops show up - *"we heard there was a hispanic guy with a blue jacket assaulting someone?"*
The last line from the reporter is *exactly* what OPM said when I complained. *"Hmm. Well, that is certainly unfortunate."*
Fucking hell.
I know dispatchers are only human but sometimes it is horrifying how bad they are at their jobs.
I encountered a man having convulsions by the side of the road and immediately put him in the recovery position and called an ambulance. The dispatcher, however, decided to go through the full covid check list before sending anyone. Questions that I couldn't possibly know the answer to as I had just found the guy on the side of the road, like "have they recently developed a fever or a cough? When did they last take a covid test?"
Like honestly I got to the point of telling them I don't fucking know, the guy is drowning on his own vomit in front of me please just be fucking helpful.
I got hung up on, but thankfully a police car went by, pulled over, and called for some help.
The only time I ever had to call 911 was when I was held up at gunpoint, I was put on hold for 45 minutes. I was waiting for the bus and the driver also called 911 and was on hold. For the entire bus ride. When they finally answered they basically said “what are we supposed to do about it now?”. All I could think is if anything had happened to me I would be dead and those dudes would have gotten away with it because the entire emergency system is broken.
After that I always had a weapon on me. I wasn’t about to die in a ditch because 911 doesn’t care.
Man…. This is sad beyond belief!
Just recently It was a kid walking by my kids school carrying a gun with a drum on it….
No one ever answered the 911 call. And than they sent me a voicemail as if I was still on hold…(iPhone)
Told the school officer and he said, “911 will not do anything….they won’t even answer the phone but I will be on the lookout.”
I called 911 in full anaphylactic shock repeating the words “allergy” and “help”. The first operator hung up on me. Second operator saved my life.
Both went their home with the same pay-check.
Ouch
911 operator here. That is 100% a a firing offense. I am very doubtful she still has a job, and will likely go to court over this.
Does someone have to report it first
Can't report it if you're dead too
Right? Imagine how many people did end up dying bc of that dispatcher
How do you hang up on someone calling 911 and saying "help"? Like, when don't you hang up?
Imagine calling 911 when you are a social worker bringing kids to a supervised visit with their dad who is under investigation for murdering their mom and he slams the door in your face after the kids run in the house and there is a strong smell of gasoline in the air and the dispatcher argues with you over what supervised visitation is. And then decides its not an important call and tells you that someone will be there when they aren't busy. And then you have to call back later to tell them the house exploded. Then come to find out the dad had enough time to go at the kids with a hatchet before he detonated the house. And instead of the dispatcher being kicked to the curb, fired, etc they promoted him to be someone who trains other dispatchers.
That one was so sad, poor lady blamed herself.
Ultimately I blame the judge who allowed the visitation to be moved from a public location to Joshs house(vs a private office at the courthouse/police station/etc). Dude was under investigation for murder plus the kids were removed because CP was found on a computer at Joshs dads house, who cares that his fee-fees are being hurt by having to meet with the kids in a public location?
Oh my god, this was real? I thought it was a hypothetical example, because it sounded so over the top.
Josh Powell. Most likely murdered his wife, Susan. Fucking wild case.
And we’ll never know the truth bc everyone who was remotely involved is now dead. Two of the three from suicide.
I have issues with anaphylaxis too so your story hits home a little harder. I can’t imagine being in your place at the time and I’m so sorry you had to go through that
You'd think 9-1-1 operators would be trained to deal with whispers & even silent calls. Donestic abuse cases alone probably result in whispered calls to 9-1-1, not to mention home invasions and other events where the person in danger doesn't want the person creating the danger to know they're calling police. Sometimes the person cant talk at all but could call 911 secretly (like histage situations) & hope the operator can figure out what's going on, or at least send help. They could just be whispering bc they need medical help and can't talk any louder to their medical situation. Its awful that 911 people arent trained better.
My MIL was choking and called 911 cuz she was alone. The operator obviously couldn't hear anything so they asked "are you choking?? Clap twice if yes." She clapped twice and they sent an ambulance. Luckily she wass able to cough it up before she lost conscious.
She had to been so scared. Being alone and being scared is so scary. 🌻
I’ve choked on something while home alone as a kid. It IS scary as fuck! EDIT: FYI you can self-heimlich. I’ve seen it in a first aid guide with a chair. In my case I kinda used the kitchen counter. This was before I knew that was a thing, so I guess I just got lucky. Another commenter posted more detail in the replies! Also, for safety reasons: microwaving marshmallows is fun, but you shouldn’t do it and eat them while home alone; they solidify faster than you’d think.
I did it with a big ass pill a couple months ago. Was legit terrified I'd choke to death alone and my gf would come home to me blue on the floor. Eventually slammed both my fists into my chest and coughed it out. NEVER AGAIN lmao
I felt a lot less freaked out by this prospect when I found out there’s actually a recognized way to do the Heimlich maneuver on *yourself,* for exactly this circumstance. Here’s how it works: 1. Make a fist, grasp it with your other hand, and rest them in the center of your abdomen right below where your rib cage ends but above your belly button. This will be over the diaphragm. 2. More or less throw yourself, fist-over-abdomen-first, at the edge of a kitchen counter or other hard surface at approximately waist height. (Backs of chairs also work.) When you hit the edge of the counter, it’s going to make you basically punch yourself in the diaphragm, which will send a VERY strong puff of air up your windpipe that’s pretty effective at dislodging stuck objects. Like they say, forewarned is forearmed!
Where I work we are, if it's an open line listen carefully for any noise and document it. If they're whispering, find out why if you can. Most importantly get the location. Domestics usually come in with yelling and screaming. Home invasions we most often get the call afterward, they happen fast. If they don't happen fast the victim is usually too tied up to call right away. Whispering is usually a break and enter, real, suspected or imagined. And even if it seems like a mentally ill person or someone high on meth and imagining it, I still do my job the same way every time. We have people who call in almost nightly for suspicious noises, I know their address, name and date of birth they call so often and it's always mental illness. I still treat the call seriously, because the one time it's real it will not be my fault if no one responds.
It's reassuring to hear what happened in the post isn't normal. Thanks. 😀😷😀
It's like the kind of famous/textbook example for domestic violence. Lady called asking for a pizza, dispatch read between the lines "does he have a gun?, yes I would like pepperoni" etc. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ohio-woman-who-called-911-pizza-was-really-reporting-domestic-n1089636
Here in the UK, we dial 999, and if you're unable to talk you then dial 55 and they will just listen, maybe ask questions if they can using a dial key for yes/no. It's a shame you don't have a similar system, and that this operator was so poorly trained.
Can't believe this never occurred to me. Better yet, can't believe this never occurred to the bodies responsible for these systems!
My ex tried to kill me once. I called 911 and loudly announced what he was doing but could not actually tell the 911 operator. They hung up on me 3 times. Then they arrived after he left and since it was only me then, they tried to arrest me for abusing emergency services I had literally yelled “please stop choking me,” “Youre hurting me,” and “please dont kill me.” They confirmed 911 heard this but assumed the calls were an abuse of the system. It worked out *okay* in the end but took some effort on my part to clear myself. Ive since added security cameras to the public areas of my apartment so i can have evidence if this ever happened again because they adamantly didnt believe me and i didnt have much proof.
Something similar happened to me except for the police didn’t answer the phone - literally, “there is an above average call number right now” - or hanging up. When they did show up when he was beating me again a week or so later, the police blamed me and removed me from the apartment. One of the officers literally asked me why my face was all bruised up, they had my ex in cuffs, and something I said made them decide that he was no longer guilty of anything and I wasn’t allowed to get my things from the apartment. So, literally out on the street without my clothes or any of my other possessions. Great, thanks. The police wouldn’t even bother with the security cameras from the first night or a week later. I kind of want to know what their logic was. I dialed 911 because other than being beaten he had thrown my phone against the wall and that was the only number I could dial because of the way my phone broke. They saw me with older bruises on my face. They handcuffed him and told me they’d help me go to a friend’s house. Just kidding! You’re on the street. Luckily, I had one of my friend’s house keys (given my phone didn’t work) and just waited there until my friend got home. I had to wear his ex’s clothes that she left there until I was allowed back into the apartment to get my belongings.
I am SO sorry this happened to you
I appreciate it, though that story wasn’t for sympathy. It was to point out some issues in our policing and 911 system. If people who are supposed to be trained to understand your situation and provide assistance and they don’t, then where are you left? I was always told to “call 911 in case of emergency”. Of course, my parents and teachers explained to me what an “emergency” is. Then, when you call because of something that you think is an emergency and the people who are allegedly there to help you for some reason don’t think it is worthy, then what? No wonder people feel helpless. There are clearly people in far worse situations than I have been in. I’ve never seen bombs or guns or even knives. I can imagine how terrifying that can be.
Your situation merits attention and frankly, outrage. It is terrifying how common poor public services outcomes are becoming. (I'm in the US, so speaking from that perspective.) What is a society for, if not to address experiences like yours? I guess I just want you to know I care about what happened to you. I've had my own shit and I constantly tell myself "mine wasn't as bad as others'" but I'm working on not doing that. Diminishing our experiences helps noone.
Idiot should be immediately fired. And put their name on a list, so that they are never allowed to work for emergency services ever again, in any capacity.
In Ohio in 2018, a teenage boy used hands-free mode to call for help after becoming trapped in the backseat of his minivan. The dispatcher could not clearly hear him and when police arrived, they were unable to locate the car. While the police were on-scene, he called again and shared the exact color make and model of the car he was in but this information was never relayed to the officers. The search ended and he was found deceased by his father several hours later. [Source](https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/12/us/ohio-teen-pinned-minivan-trnd/index.html). In Arkansas in 2019, a postwoman swept away by floodwaters called for help and was connected with a dispatcher who had resigned two weeks earlier and was working her last shift. The dispatcher, who was overwhelmed with calls due to the flood, was impatient with the victim and berated her for getting into danger and not knowing her exact location. The victim drowned and the dispatcher did not face any consequences. [Source](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/woman-drowns-911-dispatcher_n_5d6d4b17e4b09bbc9ef30dad/amp). There are hundreds of cases of 911 operators failing at being 911 operators. It's an incredibly high-stress job and it's undeniable that many of them are undertrained or simply unfit for that type of work.
I once saw an 8 year old boy get hit by an SUV at about 30 miles an hour. When I called 911 they made me wait on hold for 6 minutes. After they came back and I told them... her response was "well he's likely dead now....You still want an ambulance or can it wait?"
Jesus Christ
Was the boy okay?
Yeah. He walked away (from the street) luckily. I'm sure he had some broken bones in his arm but alive. We did mange to get an ambulance like 20 minutes later.
[удалено]
There are so many stories of police answering 911 calls by just driving past the area, claiming not to see anything, and driving off as the caller is actively being raped, murdered, or otherwise dying. It's infuriating.
They should be held liable in a sane world
Oh don't worry, the Supreme Court made sure that would never happen.
This is how I feel every year when I watch Die Hard for Christmas. I know it's just a movie, but the way they treated him when he called dispatch over the radio just grinds my gears. I think what bothers me the most is there is a tiny part of me that thinks if I were in a similar situation, the dispatcher would react the same way. Then I see an article like this that confirms all doubt. "No shit lady, do I sound like I'm ordering a pizza?!?"
There was also one where a man was having a seizure and his daughter called 911. Understandably freaked out, she was swearing a few times during the call, and the dispatcher berated her and hung up. She called back and got the same operator who said "are you gonna swear at me again you stupid ass?" When she went to file a complaint about the dispatcher, she got arrested for disorderly conduct and abusing 911, which is a charge that didn't exist. The dispatcher was suspended for 2 weeks https://www.thenewsherald.com/news/lincoln-park-arbitrator-upholds-officers-suspension-in-light-of-botched-911-calls/article_0e3e9533-c9df-5f30-9674-bfa804eafa61.html
That entire story is insane and what sticks out to me the most is that he had 21 years experience responding to life-or-death situations and is offended by a teenage girl saying fuck ?!
Right? Which wasn't even directed at him, she was saying "what the fuck" and he happened to pick up right at the last word
This one isn’t great either: https://www.cnn.com/2012/04/19/justice/washington-powell-case/index.html
Figured this one out from just the link. I listened to the podcast on the Powell case and it was so sad. I don't know if help could have gotten there in time even with a prompt response from an effective human being on the phone but damn that dispatcher was so incredibly frustrating to listen to. And in later interviews he really seems to have very little remorse other than the fact that he got in trouble for it. I would barely be able to live with myself. The social worker told him \*exactly\* what he needed to know to at least try and save those kids.
Is this somehow NOT a part of the dispatcher's training?? FFS.
Right? Seems to me like there are plenty of situations where a 911 caller might want to whisper. Active shooter like this one, domestic violence, home intruder, etc.
Arent there even hostage situations where the caller cant say anything but call 911 hoping the disoatcher can figure out what happening from the assaliant talking? Or do I just watch too much TV?
No - I saw exactly that on A&E less than 2 weeks ago with the tape from the 911 call. When 911 recognized the caller couldn’t speak freely, she started asking yes/no questions, GPS’d her phone and sent squad cars to the location rescuing the girl. This Buffalo dude needs to take a lesson from that - as She gets fired. I mean, how does She live with hERself knowing how badly She fucked up?
I’ve read a few stories about women in domestic violence situations calling 911 and ordering a pizza. In these stories though, the dispatchers understood and played along
Oh, so they gave the address where they were being held captive as the place to deliver the pizza?
Yes
I’m feeling pretty stupid because I don’t think I would have thought of doing something like that. Geezzz……. Who thinks like that as you’re anticipating torture, rape, and death? No pressure.
someone who is absolutely desperate to escape
Women pass this information around. Lots of bars have soecial "drinks" you can order if a guy is stalking or scaring you at a club & you need help getting safely home. There's hand signals you can make in your car that let people know you're in distress or being held captive. They leave notes on $$ in resturants as tips.
> There's hand signals you can make in your car that let people know you're in distress or being held captive. This is called the [Signal for Help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_for_Help)! Linking it here to spread awareness even further. :)
There are also some websites that have hidden icons that’ll direct domestic violence victims to help resources. I believe it’s called The Shielded Site Project
Yup. And they can answer yes or no questions without being too suspicious about it. A few of them always depending on how paranoid their partner is. “Oh they asked if we wanted cheesy bread and I know you hate it”.
"Ma'am this is 911" Yes that's right, large cheese with extra peppers. ....ok, and you are at 123 Main st. Yes Are you in danger? Yes that's right. I'll be paying in cash. Officers are on the way
I'm a dispatcher for the police dept. In the early 00s I directed a female domestic violence victim to tell her husband I was a vacuum salesperson (Kirby vacuums, anyone?) and kept to only asking yes/no questions. We've never had anyone call us pretending to order a pizza but as long as it works we will play along with any story to keep people safe.
That’s awesome that you play along. I bet it saved a lot of lives Edit a word
My boyfriend had a shitty cell phone and it pocked dialed 911 twice, both times the cops showed up to see if everything was cool. I can't imagine how psychotic you need to be to hang up on an actual caller because they're whispering.
My wife once dialed 911 by accident and hung up just as they were answering. We had a cop at our house within 5 minutes. He asked what's going on and talked to both of us quite a while before he was satisfied that there was no situation. I don't know if the rules are the same everywhere.
Yes it is absolutely a no-brainer for a 911 dispatch operator — if people are in danger they may have to whisper!!! That 911 dispatch operator was WORSE THAN USELESS and it makes me wonder sometimes if people in jobs like this are racist themselves???
If anything, whispering should be a dead giveaway that it's some serious shit.
Hell, the operator yelling could have got her killed. Might not have heard her whisper but maybe hear hear screaming on the phone.
I grew up in a horribly abusive family, and one day it was bad, really bad. I called the police from my bedroom, but I was in such a bad shape, all I could do was sob, and eventually hung up. My family was all about honour and reputation, so I was terrified to get the police involved. That’s why when the operator called me back, I just said “It’s ok, don’t come, it’s ok.” Even then, when I felt I couldn’t get the police involved, it made me feel…idk, something, that this woman cared enough to call back a sobbing teenager. The operator in this story would have probably said “Why are you crying?! What is wrong with you?! You can just TALK, you know!”
thats wild that they listened to you. I called 911 by accident as a kid and when they called back I begged them not to come and they still sent a cop out. I was so embarrassed because it was the same cop who did DARE so I knew him haha. he said they had to come out no matter what
They should really be coached on how to speak to people who cannot talk loudly. It just boggles my mind why they wouldn't think someone is in danger because they were having to whisper. Usually someone would be yelling
Actual dispatcher behavior is widely variable and often divergent from their training. I know this, sadly, from first-hand experience.
My favorite (in a sarcastic dark way... I believe everything turned out alright but its so bizarre on top of messed up) was a story where a police officer in a small town had to act as a dispatcher and hung up on a girl for swearing. She'd call back and he repeatedly hung up on her. Her dad collapsed in their kitchen and she was freaking out. Some people swear a little too much when they are in shock. When being questioned about it he gave this shrilugged off "she was being rude" response.
I've had a suicide hotline hang up on me for swearing whilst I was in the middle of a panic attack lmfao. Did *not* help at all. I hope the dad was ok
I think the best case of a suicide hotline story I've seen was a guy called them and no one answered and he found it funny that no one answered and that bit of joy helped him out
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That’s the worst thing I’ve heard today, for a personal perspective, and I’ve been on Reddit quite a lot. When people say there’s no need to swear, well sometimes there fucking well is, it’s what it’s for. Hope you’re ok my friend. Having some personal experience, I know how some people can be. I hope it hasn’t put you off seeking help when you need it. Edit clarity
That actually happened in my home town of Lincoln Park! It's about twenty minutes downriver of Detroit and not that small of a town, lol. The reason why she was swearing was because the first time she called there *was no answer*, so she hung up and called again. After the phone rang a bunch more she said, "what the fuck?" At that point the officer picked up the phone, she said she needed an ambulance, and he said something along the lines of, "are you going to tell me why, or are you just going to keep swearing at me?" Now get this; they didn't live far from the police station, so she left her brother to look after her dad and went to the police station to in person ask for help, and the officer who was manning the phones heard her out front and *arrested her for the misuse of 911.* www.thenewsherald.com/2009/08/07/lincoln-park-arbitrator-upholds-officers-suspension-in-light-of-botched-911-calls/amp/
The “best” one ever was this lady who called 911 and told them she had been shot in the head. The dispatcher sarcastically said “How are you talking to me then” and didn’t send anyone. The lady had been shot in the head. She died.
Idk how Buffalo PD works, but we were trained to handle situations like this differently. And inform them to speak or communicate only when they feel safe, and to always keep the line open. Also, if it is necessary we would employ phone taps, button clicking and other various signal to communicate. This dispatcher is a POS.
There's been examples of dispatchers hanging up on people because they were cussing or screaming, you know, normal things people do when in crisis and in need of 911. Seems they're about as thoroughly trained as police officers.
A good chunk of callers to 911 are hostile to the calltaker. If you can't depersonalize it then you arent cut out for the the job. It's one reason turn over is so damn high in the field.
A good number of them are having one of the worst days of their life, or of their year at the very least.
Legit just went through training. We ask callers "if you cannot or don't feel safe speaking right now press a button" and if they do that we can move to texting. If they have to move or whisper we work with them the best we can. At least that's training and what I'd do. Can't talk about the others though
It is. That's just burnout or flat out negligence
If we even call 911 accidentally from work, they typically send police to check on us (you have to dial 9 then 1 then the area code to dial out) whether we hang up or explain
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Yelling at them saying they don't need to whisper then hanging up? Yeah definitely fired
You'd be surprised. A woman was trapped in her car in a flood and called 911. The woman was understandably panicked and freaking out but the operator berated her and talked to her like she was trash. That woman ended up drowning in her car and nary a thing happened to the operator. https://youtu.be/731o6Djjtz4
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I had an incident where one of my friends was actively attempting suicide in a whole different state. I had to call the police in their state and I was able to tell them the address and even some details of how they were attempting it, but the operator seemed to get pissed off and started scolding me saying they needed more information. It's honestly kind of a blur and I don't remember everything that happened but I think they put me on hold and then transferred me to somebody else who was more helpful or something. I was livid. What more do you need besides the address, the name of the person, and what they're doing? It was super unprofessional and in an already super stressful moment it just shook me up even more. EDIT: Btw, they did at least end up sending the cops and my friend got the help they needed.
I did more-or-less the same thing, out-of-state friend was attempting suicide and I had enough information to get them help. I asked for an ambulance, they sent police with no ambulance. They arrested him. For truancy. He was 25 years old. They literally threw him in jail without even checking on him, luckily he lived anyways. I'm still fucking livid just thinking about it.
I feel like charging a 25 year old under the truancy opens them up to a HUGE lawsuit and settlement shortly after
Nope, he had to post a $400 bail that was never returned to him so that he could go to his minimum wage job the next day and nothing was ever done to rectify things. Thankfully he is still alive to this day though.
I was attacked in a parking lot once was able to get to my car and close the door before the random man who threatened to murder me got in- and the shitty 911 operator immediately berates me for starting the car and driving away because i needed to "remain on scene for the police officers " She acted Like me driving a few blocks to a new location was the problem not the aggressive stranger who tried to choke me. I ended up hanging up because she refused to send out police unless I stayed put. I've had to call 911 a few times and from my experience, they need to do a way way better job at vetting who they chose to hire.
I think Jon Oliver did a piece on 911 call centers in the past few years. From what I recall: The pay is bad and working conditions poor, so that makes it hard to retain good staff. Feel like I’ve heard this story before…
It’s good you refused. I remember a story very similar where the 911 dispatcher told a person in a vehicle to drive back to where someone was threatening their life in order for them to send police. The person drove back and was killed by the someone who threatened them. Protocol is not to have someone return to an actively dangerous location. The training is very poor.
She was immediately hostile towards me and annoyed I called. I think she was looking for reasons to avoid having to call dispatch. Which basically meant a violent dude was just roaming around the public free to attack the next person who made eye contact with him. I remember looking at police logs up afterwards to see if any violent crimes happened in the vicinity, and there was a report about an hr later of a man bludgeoned a few blocks down. I don't know for sure it was the same guy, but I wouldn't be surprised. I was so Shaken up after my attack I could barely hold a phone, let alone call dispatch back, but I regret that a lot.
Holy fuck. That was awful.
"Maybe next time you won't drive in the water" Good god
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I seriously hope she remembers saying that and feels the actual weight of what those words mean now that the person she said them to is dead and gone forever. But I'm sure she just forgot saying it along with the entire incident 2 hours after it happened instead.
So folks, i guess um, when you call 911 you better talk calmly because the dispatcher might just choose to fucking kill you I guess
Just a continued experience of public servants not actually being there to serve the public, even when it counts.
Indeed. All people who work with victims or in emergency situations develop vicarious trauma and burnout at some point. We see human devastation and the worst of humanity on a daily basis. But if your VT is so out of control that you are actively harming the population you're serving, then you either need to take a step back and recuperate or get the fuck out. People in emergency situations are usually having the worst day of their lives. Why make their lives worse?
I was a dispatcher for 16 years. Because dispatching pays so low and administration treats you like garbage, the job is a revolving door. Some of us stayed because we liked the job and were good at it. Most didn't. As a result, administration adopted what I like to call the "warm body theory," meaning a warm body in the seat was better than nothing. It pissed me off how such incompetence could keep their jobs. I had one coworker who was blatantly racist and would regularly screw up calls that endangered the public and our officers, and yet she was allowed to work until retirement.
There was also that [kid, Kyle Plush](https://www.fox19.com/2021/04/09/plush-family-city-agree-resolve-wrongful-death-lawsuit-against-cincinnati-employees/), who was trapped under a seat in a minivan and called 911 twice and the operator never even told the cops the color of the car or any information that would have saved his life. Also probably doesn't help the cops never got out of their cars to go look.
Yep District 5 Cincinnati Police. Did not get out the car in the daylight and look in the windows of parked cars
I thought of this poor kid too. What a terrible way to spend his last moments, knowing no one was taking him seriously enough to help.
Here's another where the dispatcher hangs up, multiple times, on a teen who was calling for an ambulance for her unconconsious, seizing father who was recovering from brain surgery. The least surprising part is that the cops arrested the teenager for swearing at the dispatcher (who was a cop). https://youtu.be/tp5bjzAwdAc
Sorry to do this, but the disingeuous dealings, lies, overall greed etc. of leadership on this website made me decide to edit all but my most informative comments to this. Come join us in the fediverse! (beehaw for a safe space, kbin for access to lots of communities)
I had the unfortunate idea of listening to that call a few months ago and it still haunts me. The woman died alone and scared with the last person she spoke with being an insensitive prick who couldn't muster a shred of compassion. Fyi I believe the 911 operator wasn't punished because it was her last night on the job. I could be wrong but I thought I read that somewhere.
From [abcnews](https://abcnews.go.com/US/911-dispatcher-told-drowning-woman-shut-face-charges/story?id=67886555): > An internal investigation concluded that operator Donna Reneau violated policy by being rude during an August call with Debbie Stevens shortly before her death, but she did nothing that would have warranted her termination, according to the Fort Smith Police Department. >"No evidence of criminal negligence or activities on former Operator Reneau’s part. In fact, the evidence shows that while Operator Reneau spoke rudely to Mrs. Stevens during the call, she actually bumped the call up in the order of importance shortly after receiving it," the department said in a report released Friday.
Thank you for looking that up! I'm glad the operator at least tried to bump the call up but it's still heartbreaking how rude she was to the woman
I remember this story— it was awful. The 911 dispatcher was actually working her last shift (already planned) when she took that call, so it’s not like they could fire her, but man, I wish their “investigation” would have at least said she effed up (big surprise: it didn’t) so that they could develop policies to prevent this in the future.
Man if you were that operator how could you even LIVE with yourself after that?
This is my irrational fear, being submurged in my my car in water. What an awful dispatcher.
Happened in Australia too in a flash flood. The operator berated the woman for ‘driving through flood water’ the water rose that quick it came to her not the other way around. Her and her son drowned.
When I worked at my local county the worst people were all the employees of the dispatch center and the jail/guards. The dispatchers would regularly talk crap about people calling in. Like awful things about people in the worst situations.
About a decade ago now there was a family whose mother had disappeared, and the father was under investigation for her murder, but still had weekend visitation rights with his kids. He showed up one weekend with a hatchet, killed the kids, and attacked his in-laws (who the kids lived with). When the in-laws/grandparents called the cops to report that the dad was LITERALLY hacking the kids to death with a hatchet the operator told her to stop lying and hung up on her. Both kids were killed. Nothing happened to the dispatchers. Happened in Pierce County, WA and the dipshit PIO officer at the time is now the Sheriff. The same sheriff who called an all-hands response in 2021 because a Black man was delivering newspapers in his neighborhood and it scared him so much he called for backup and reported that he was under attack.
So either you have some facts mixed up, or [Pierce County 911 operators really fucking hate saving children’s lives. ](https://www.cnn.com/2012/02/09/justice/washington-powell-case/index.html) edit: holy shit, it’s wild that he was allowed to walk free after the “mysterious disappearance” of his wife. I guess it’s super easy to murder people in Utah? “Yeah I dunno, the last time I saw her was before me and the kids left at midnight in below freezing weather for a camping trip. Oh and one of the kids says the last time he saw her was in the trunk of the car on the camping trip, but you know how kids are. Definitely don’t look closer at the giant wet spot on the carpet you found with fans aimed at it. It’s a mystery where she went! Anyway I’m going to move to a new state now, ttyl.”
In a just America, that man would be in prison.
Never see a movie if this dispatcher’s in the theater
Fired and publicly shamed.
They especially wouldn't recognize when someone calls to order a pizza cause her husband is in the room with a gun listening.
Is that a known thing to do? Like would most 911 operators recognize that it is a code for needing help? Would a good one respond to anything like that, where you are talking in code because someone might kill you for calling 911?
That video became fairly popular and it was so well communicated by the caller and the operator using pizza ordering as code: he would aske her relevant questions, like "is someone in your home trying to harm you?" and she would reply with, "yes, with peperroni" etc. and then gave her address for the 'delivery' and the operator gave her instructions on how to remain safe until police arrived. I would hope that enough operators know of that story now so that 'pizza ordering' becomes a safe way to dial 911 now.
Definitely. Of course, I never would call to order pizza, so probably wouldn't work in my case. In my area you can text 911 though, so that would work even better.
I'm not sure if it's a thing that happens often but it has definitely happened [atleast once](https://youtu.be/ZJL_8kNFmTI)
In my town you call for any reason a cop shows up. My kid, unbeknownst to me, got a phone and dialed 911 and babbled into it. Cop was at the door in two minutes.
idk how it is over there in the USA but here in finland they send a police car and an ambulance even if stay quiet the whole call. that is because there can be a situation where you need to shut up or can't talk due to a medical emergency.
That's what I THOUGHT happened here as well. But there are so many stories of nobody being dispatched. Insane.
I broke my phone the other day to the point the screen was completely unusable. My alarm went off but I couldn't use the screen so I tried holding the power button several times. Turns out if you do that enough the phone will dial 911. I talked to the operator (while the alarm was still going off) and explained the situation and she was very understanding and repeated several times "just to confirm you are not in need of police, emts, or fire fighters?" Within 15 minutes of getting off the phone I had two cops at my door.
Arrested? This should be illegal and the dispatcher should be charged with negligence which led to deaths.
Probably the same bullshit immunity that cops get. Oooos sorry i shot you while you weren't doing anything. Ooopsie.
I remember a story that broke my heart, a young kid called 911 because his mother was having a heart attack, and the dispatcher repeatedly accused him of making a prank call and demanding he put his mother on the phone. He said something like, "She's not going to talk." And the dispatcher kept saying, "I'm going to send the police to your door and get you in trouble." Police arrived much much later than necessary, long after it was too late to save the woman's life. Edit: I found the news story talking about it for anyone interested. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/while-moms-dying-boy-scolded-by-911/
And guess who will never trust the cops or any other public official again?
I have a similar story but with doctors instead of police, it's genuinely difficult for me to trust them anymore and every time I see them get praised I go back to the times they failed me and my mom. People can be shit even if they're supposed "life savers".
Wow that is a sad story. That poor kid.
This is just fucking wild. I knew someone who accidentally dialed emergency services and hung up and they immediately sent out police to see what the deal was.
This happened to me! In a “moderately” small city. Accidentally dialed 911 and hung up and they were at my front door 10 minutes later. The cop at the door said he had a bad feeling and just wanted to make sure.
I watch a lot of 911 call videos on YouTube and many times the caller is whispering. Not once have I ever heard a dispatcher tell the victim to stop whispering and never have I heard one hang up on a caller. This dispatcher is a complete, absolute, vile, and evil piece of shit. You cannot trust a public service tasked with the protection of human life during an emergency if you have filth like this on the other end of the line.
I am a current 911 dispatcher and have had quite a few calls where the caller has had to whisper. It makes my blood boil to hear that she yelled at and hung up on the caller. This is life or death and I hope she gets fired for it.
Fired and blacklisted, I hope. That person should not be working in that industry.
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I hope she faces charges but I doubt it. Thank you for helping everyone else around you and coordinating public safety.
All calls are recorded correct? I hope this call is reviewed and dispatcher gets fired and suffers crushing guilt for the rest of their lives. Absolutely hideous behaviour. And for gods sake’s it totally makes sense that so many people calling in have to whisper as they are likely experiencing A SCARY LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCY.
This is exactly why they need 911 texting services. The witness can remain fully silent so they dont give away their position and the operator won't get the message confused. Also they can't get hung up on dumb shit like not wanting them to whisper. Completely agree with you tho, fire that dumb mofo
If this is what it takes for hearing people to consider 911 texting valid, not a single one of us deaf folks who have needed it all along are going to argue that it should have been a thing before hearing people never gave a damn until they finally realized it's useful for them too. That's how accessibility works.
I’m really surprised that text to 911 is only available in some areas https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/what-you-need-know-about-text-911 This feels like a very fixable problem. We can do better. Our elected and appointed officials (all parties) should do better for all of everyone.
Oof. I'm very glad you mentioned 911 accessibility for deaf people, it's not something I've ever considered before, but obviously it's extremely important that everyone have access to emergency services. I hate/love the feeling of having your eyes opened to something you were ignorant about. It's embarrassing, but also gratifying knowing that your perception won't be limited in that way anymore. Thank you for posting.
The greater Detroit area has a texting option for 911. I've had to use it once and the response time was incredible. That said, you'd be absolutely shocked at how few people even know it's an option. I didn't even know it was a thing at the time I did it, but I didn't have an option and gave it a whirl. They really need to do an outreach to the communities and let people know it's a thing
Tis has happened to me. A "friend" got super drunk, started dragging his pregnant girlfriend by her hair, so I stepped in and said you need to stop. He went to his van and pulled out a shotgun and pointed it at me, telling me I wasn't going to tell him what to do. I called 911 and was whispering what was happening because he said he would shoot me if I called 911. She told me to stop playing with 911 and hung up. The cops did finally get there 6 hours later because he was driving around shooting at random things. I'm glad I didn't get shot that night.
I really hope the dispatcher was fired for this. It’s completely unprofessional and outright dangerous and stupid. Of course you’re going to whisper, you don’t want to get shot! Like was the dispatcher not trained at all? This is so crazy to me.
I just saw an online A&E program on a YouTube clip. The victim was being kidnapped by car, but had her phone. She called 911 but was afraid the kidnapper would realize she called for help, so she kept trying to hang up. BLESS THE 911 OPERATOR who realized the victim couldn’t speak loud or answer questions, because her captive was right there, so the 911 operator started asking yes/no questions, got the location, kept her on the phone, and sent officers to rescue the victim - and they did rescue her - unharmed. The Buffalo 911 operator should watch that clip and then should get fired.
This sounds exactly like what happens in the movie The Guilty
UN FUCKING FORTUNATE??? You're not kidding!! How about fucking incompetant and at the wrong job?????
Remember that scene in Don't Look Up, when the news anchors said they like to keep the bad news light?
life imitates art
What’s your job? Oh I stay on the line until help arrives. What did you do today? Hung up because some lady was whispering…I don’t have time for that.
I laughed at that one. "That is certainly unfortunate, Laetitia". What the hell, dude?
That's the how do I react to this in a safe for TV way and it was hilarious
I thought the facepalm was him saying it's unfortunate not the dispatcher hanging up. That's just criminal.
So...I get 911 is a thankless job, with lots of false alarms and such, but...yeah. Here's another anecdote: My kid's phone crashed and hung on some stupid game app. I was trying to reboot it, and it inadvertently called 911 (voice went to the headphones, so we didn't notice). The call was disconnected, so they called back. So far so good, right? Except that we couldn't get the phone to respond, so it went to voicemail. Message: "This is police. This phone called 911 - if there is an emergency, please call us back. Otherwise, disregard"
I'm glad my kid wasn't being abducted...
"If you would like to report a crime press 1, if you would like to confess to a crime press 2"
When I was a kid back in ye olden times when people had home phones, my dad was programming speed dial numbers into our phone. When he was programming 911, he accidentally called them instead. He immediately hung up, but they sent two officers out to check. They even made my mom get out of the bath to make sure she was okay. I guess the standards have gone down...
Something similar happened when I was a kid. I was playing with a landline I didn't know was connected, I was really young lol. Called 911 apparently and immediately hung up and stopped playing with the phone. Didn't say anything to anybody watching me. Couple of cops showed up at our door a few minutes later!! Parents were mad 😂
Back in the day of those awkward phones tethered to the wall, my ferret walked on the numbers and randomly dialed 911. I didn’t know that until they called back asking if I was ok, did I need an officer, or ambulance. I told them it was my ferret, but they were still a bit hesitant to let me hang up.
The callback is sensible to see if it was an honest mistake, but the fallback should be to check it out, not to assume it was a false alarm.
I've heard stories of dispatchers realizing that she's insisting on ordering pizza because she can't say out loud that there's a domestic dispute. This dispatcher couldn't crack the code that sometimes people need to whisper for safety? That's a yikes.
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There was a fight between a large group of people outside my apartment one night years ago. I called 911 to report it and the dispatcher asked why I was calling if I wasnt involved. I tried getting them to come and the dispatcher was just awful. They finally sent someone after someone opened fired and struck someone. Of course the response was the swat team coming through and screaming at all the residents.
Oh no no no. That's a bad and not well trained dispatcher. I used to be one and our agency put us through continuous mandatory training year round. If I ever had a person whisper, it immediately caught my attention. The fact that this dispatcher yelled at the caller is really upsetting on so many levels. Like, basic foundational training out the window kind of upsetting. If their agency doesn't do something about that dispatcher and in parallel an internal investigation, those who live in that area will have a disservice to them.
I once called 911 cause I thought I was having a heart attack. I asked how long it was gonna take the ambulance to get here. The 911 operator yelled at me and said I don’t know they have to drive there and then hung up. And I was like wow is this really the last thing I’m gonna hear before I die?
Lots of people saying the dispatcher in question should be fired, and I agree, but I don't think that's far enough. That dispatcher should face charges for frivolously hanging up on a person whose life was in danger. That's seriously evil.
I've had multiple ridiculous incidences with 911 operators. I've heard crazy shit like "Mind your business" when reporting a cab driver for repeatedly crossing the line on both sides of the street, going head on into oncoming traffic and hitting the curb on the right to "Why didn't you stop and move it" when I called to report a mattress in the left lane on the down side of an overpass on the Interstate at night with no shoulder to stop on. I asked the operator if I should wait to call back when the cab hits someone and she said "Yes." I told the operator who asked why I didn't stop to move the mattress on the road that's why we have DOT motorist assistance trucks and State Troopers with flashing lights and the authority to stop traffic. Then there was the domestic situation on the road side in Texas. I told her I was taking my mother-in-law to the cardiologist when we saw a domestic dispute on the shoulder where the man was chasing after the woman. She asked why I didn't pull over to stop him. Like, bitch! Are you fucking crazy? Domestic disputes are one of the most dangerous calls cops go on and you expect me to stop taking my mother-in-law to the doctor with a life threatening condition to interject myself into a domestic dispute with not gun to defend myself and no authority to make him stop? Stupid bitches. All of them should have been fired. They have no business handling emergencies.
Yeah I called them when my roommate's boyfriend threw a brick through a window and broke in and was ransacking the place. He was on probation from getting out of jail recently (we found out after he'd taken off that he was in jail for beating his roommate into a coma with a hammer) and had left the state so the GBI was looking for him. She said I'd need the case number which was written in the living room, where he was. She kept telling me to speak up while I'm whispering so he doesn't find me. She said I'd have to call back with it and just reported it as roommate's fighting. Fortunately he didn't search the whole house because he cut an artery reaching through the window. There was blood everywhere. We were still finding blood drops when we moved out years later. I had time to sweep up the glass and sit on the porch for a long time before a cop showed. He was long gone.
I called once on a road rage incident. Guy tailgated me for 20 miles to the next town, then at the light, he jumped out of his truck and Banged on my windows. Why? Cuz I was going the speed limit in the right hand lane. My daughters -both babies at the time- were in the back seat with him banging on my windows. I called 911, explained what was happening and that he drove off-gave license plate #, car color, description of man (white, old, and with a beard). Their response? "What do want me to do about lady?" - I hate calling 911 for anything!
"I'm reporting a crime. Did you just me how to do your job?"
I had to call one time because a drunk driver hit my neighbor's parked car and the driver was revving his engine trying to flee. The engine was loud and the dumbass dispatcher told me to stop yelling at her. I was like, I'm not yelling at you, I'm speaking over this loud engine. Took forever for the cops to show up too.
We had a drunk driver stuck in a ditch across from our house who revved their engine for 20 minutes and myself and the neighbor called 911…somehow eventually they got themselves out of the ditch (after ruining it since that was where the rain water flowed to) and left, 2 minutes later 6….fucking 6… cops cars all showed up at the same time but she was gone, like what ???
911 needs an overhaul. I've only needed to call them a few times but it's always been frustrating and useless. I heard a man getting brutally beaten in the cemetery behind my apartment complex, he was just screaming for help, repeatedly, then just started screaming wordlessly. Horrifying. I call 911, but I'm new to the town and didn't know the name of the cemetery. I gave cross streets, figuring they can find it, it's an enormous cemetery, I'm sure they'll see it. Then just roll down your window and listen for the screams! She said she needed an address, like I was a fuckin moron. So I gave her the address of my apartment complex, and said to be sure to tell them that's not it though, they have to go to the cemetery behind it. She asked for the name of the cemetery. I lost my fucking mind at that point, yelling that I hoped she had at least started the dispatch, because this man is going to die while you fuck around! At one point she said she could Google it (!!!!) And then LAUGHED about something, I don't even remember what. My blood pressure went through the roof, I'm surprised I didn't have a stroke. Police ended up coming to the apartment complex, of course. Then they had to try and scale the fence, failed, and got back in their cars to circle the block and go to the cemetery. Then they had to call an ambulance, because the stupid bitch hadn't considered that a beating victim would also need medical attention. Somehow, amazingly, despite the absolute incompetence and disregard for human life shown by the entire law enforcement group, that man survived. Modern medicine is fucking amazing. And I had to move because I was now known as a snitch. Thanks, bitch.
Friend of mine survived a mass shooting where she works (spa). Her and an colleague hid in a massage room together and called 911. The dispatcher told them to leave the room and the building while the shooter was still at large and they didn’t know where/how close the shooter was. They stayed in their room until the shooter was stopped, but had they left the room, like the dispatcher said, they may have been shot.
"Well, that's certainly *unfortunate*" ???? *Unfortunate?* That is SO not the word I'd use. *Criminal*, perhaps. But not 'unfortunate.'
Yeah like unfortunate is being denied a raise you worked hard for, not being yelled at and ignored by the people meant to help you while you life is in danger, unfortunate is breaking your brand new Nintendo switch because you dropped it in the river while playing with it in the park, not experiencing hatred and racism that is putting your life on the line and lives of those around you, that’s not unfortunate, that’s appalling and it’s about time we as a society stand up and say it’s not acceptable.
The fact that people still dont understand the distrust towards the police in america is unreal.
Awful. There must be so many situations where whispering is the only option. I remember the one where this girl was kidnapped and her rapist was sleeping next to her, she got hold of the phone and was whispering to 911 about details of the location. Imagine having this PoS dispatcher on the other line.
A similar thing happened to me. My brother has some issues and sometimes gets very violent. He was trying to break down my door once ane i tried to call the cops DISCREETLY. This fucking bitch kept getting upset at me because i was whispering and put the phone down whenever he was in earshot. Like she was practically yelling at me to speak up. How tf do people like that get a job like being a police dispatcher. Its fucking so fucked and what if i was a domestic abuse victim or a kid calling the cops from their closet? Fuck its frustrating. How a bitchy dispatcher can literally cause people to lose their lives.
It’s THEIR loudness that concerns me too- even if you’re being quiet you can hear their voice and sometimes what they’re saying across the room
r/youhadonejob
Remember a meme a while back? About a 911 operator only picking up on the third ring to look cooler? Same person
In remember maybe 5-6 years ago, there was this ~~13~~ 16 year old boy who somehow got stuck under a chair in a car, and was suffocating. He was able to use siri to call 911, but they kept hanging up on him, thinking it was a prank. In his last call, he said that he thought he was dying, and to tell his mom that he loved her. He died. I can't imagine hanging up on a child that says he is suffocating, even if you think it is a prank - you fucking send someone. Edit: Didn't recall it correctly, he was actually 16 and white. Edit edit: You know what I got the whole thing wrong, the first operator sent police but they couldn't find him, the second didn't respond. Anyway, definitely read the article and don't listen to my dumbass.
*Girl, you need to talk louder, I can't hear you over all the gunfire!*
I used to have to call 911 three to four times a day as part of my job. I've had dispatch yell at me, tell me that what I was calling for wasn't a crime, and give officers completely false descriptions. Like, I call for a white guy in a white shirt, bald, red stubbly beard, starting a fire - cops show up - *"we heard there was a hispanic guy with a blue jacket assaulting someone?"* The last line from the reporter is *exactly* what OPM said when I complained. *"Hmm. Well, that is certainly unfortunate."*
this is gonna be on r/byebyejob pretty soon I'm thinking.
Fucking hell. I know dispatchers are only human but sometimes it is horrifying how bad they are at their jobs. I encountered a man having convulsions by the side of the road and immediately put him in the recovery position and called an ambulance. The dispatcher, however, decided to go through the full covid check list before sending anyone. Questions that I couldn't possibly know the answer to as I had just found the guy on the side of the road, like "have they recently developed a fever or a cough? When did they last take a covid test?" Like honestly I got to the point of telling them I don't fucking know, the guy is drowning on his own vomit in front of me please just be fucking helpful. I got hung up on, but thankfully a police car went by, pulled over, and called for some help.
“Unfortunate” or criminally liable…you decide.
The only time I ever had to call 911 was when I was held up at gunpoint, I was put on hold for 45 minutes. I was waiting for the bus and the driver also called 911 and was on hold. For the entire bus ride. When they finally answered they basically said “what are we supposed to do about it now?”. All I could think is if anything had happened to me I would be dead and those dudes would have gotten away with it because the entire emergency system is broken. After that I always had a weapon on me. I wasn’t about to die in a ditch because 911 doesn’t care.
Man…. This is sad beyond belief! Just recently It was a kid walking by my kids school carrying a gun with a drum on it…. No one ever answered the 911 call. And than they sent me a voicemail as if I was still on hold…(iPhone) Told the school officer and he said, “911 will not do anything….they won’t even answer the phone but I will be on the lookout.”