Have You Ever Called 911?

So far in my short life, I haven't had to. I almost did on one occasion that I don't really want to talk about, but my brothers and I were able to get the situation under control.

Come to think of it, I've never had to call 111 or 000 in my life

Thankfully, I never needed too, and I hope that continues well into the future.

thatoneguy82 said:

I've called 911 twice in my life. First time was when my sister's ex-boyfriend was causing a raucous and threatening everyone with some sort of weapon. The cops came and unfortunately, they actually put handcuffs on me and was placed in the back of a police car. I just walked out to tell that he had already left through the backyard. Apparently, they did it to any male that was leaving the house since they didn't have a description of my sister's ex.

Second was when I was on my way home from the club with some friends around 2-230am. It was very rainy and the freeways had many tiny puddles. We saw this one limo just hydroplane and tumble across the side of the freeway; it probably flipped over at least 3 times. I called 911 and I was immediately placed on HOLD! I hung up after since I saw a couple of cars going over to the side of the freeway.

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You were put on hold because, no doubt, the 911 center was flooded with calls about what you saw, in addition to other calls for service between calls for police, EMS and fire services. They have to deal with folks calling in emergencies, as well as dispatching the first responders to those emergencies. Many Centers only have so many people to do all of that and when large events or crashes on busy roads occur, everyone with a cell phone calls in and they're not always able to answer each an every call. They do their best to answer them all, or call them back if they have an abandoned call.

No. I have called 999 though.

Multiple times. My brother is epileptic and occasionally his seizures last for longer than half an hour and his medication doesn't work with those seizures so that is when I call 111.

I always felt 911 is a joke.

Yes, a few occasions.

satcomer said:

I always felt 911 is a joke.

YouTube: video

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You may not feel the service is a joke when or if you or a loved one needs it in a life threatening emergency.

Thankfully no.

Once, years ago, when I had a chimney fire. By shutting down the air vents to the woodstove I was able suffocate the fire, so I called back and called off the fire department.

Our fire departments are all volunteer up here in the boonies, so the first responders probably were just getting into their vehicles to head for the fire hall when I made the second call.

I slept lightly that night and never since have forgotten to dial down the air vents once the fire is going strong.

Twice. Once because I saw a guy get dropped off on a street corner in a drunken/near catatonic state. It's what people do when they don't want to take care of someone. The other time, I was 2 and it was on speed dial.

maflynn said:

Thankfully, I never needed too, and I hope that continues well into the future.

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Same with me. Never had to, and hopefully never will.

Twice to report impaired drivers and once to report a girl getting beat up by a group of other girls. There may have been a fourth but I can't recall the details right now.

I haven't done it myself, but I was present once when my wife called 911 from our house (her mother had fallen on the stairs and passed out).

SandboxGeneral said:

You may not feel the service is a joke when or if you or a loved one needs it in a life threatening emergency.

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Exactly. Very well said.

Or, you may not feel that the service is 'a joke if you find yourself in a place and time where the prompt presence of these services has become a necessity.

I’ve called several times. Most often, the reason is while driving when I encounter a traffic accident. Get the cops out there to clear the mess up.

A few times. My neighbor with MS had seizures.

On another occasion a guy broke into my house while I was there alone with the dogs. Fortunately my Airedale gripped his wrist (and the small poodle mix tried her best to grab the other wrist). They had him pinned in the middle of the living room. I was in the kitchen at the time and went to check, saw what was obviously an art student held by my dogs & picked up a chair. He managed to leap backwards & out the door and off the porch and up the street instantly. I had to argue with the 911 operator over his description because she wouldn't believe that a young guy with really long dreadlocks could be white. He was wearing skater shorts before they were really popular. Same again with the policeman. 2 weeks later I saw the guy on a bicycle near the art school, ha!

Once we heard shouting & many gunshots while walking the dogs in the park near the bridge to JHU, tried to call 911 but kept getting disconnected--turns out it was filming for The Wire. Sort of got blasé about gunshots after that because there was so much filming all over the place for The Wire. Even after getting additional bullet holes in our 2nd floor studio windows, it was like ho hum, stick to the walls.

Oh, and when a truck driver illegally drove a huge rig around a corner fast & up our extremely narrow city street, ran the trailer up & over our neighbors' parked Oldsmobile sedan. It was a huge vintage car from the 70's and it squirted out the back of the truck with the top half crushed in, it didn't stop until it got hooked on the top of a metal road barrier farther down the street.

Ha! Starting to remember even more stuff. So glad I'm in the suburbs at present. (Wow! I can't believe I said that...)

Never have directly. If I happen upon a scene or situation, it is my protocol to take immediate action. I will demand that someone else make that call for me so that I can have them give all the proper info to the dispatcher. Kind of different when you are an EMT.

No, but an angry neighbor called the 911 on me once, because I was having a (camp)fire in the backyard. The police came, saw that it was recreational, and then left.

On three occasions. Always to aid someone who I saw get into a wreck and I just witnessed.

Yes I have, to report a brush fire on the interstate. The operator handled it very well and contacted the local authorities really quickly. When we headed back a couple hours later and the fire was out and the crew had already left!

I'm in the same boat as firedept with a medical emergency though, as I am OEC certified. Unless I am the only person there, I would have to tell someone else to call for help, and then help the person as much as I can until the EMT's show up.