Re: 911:: Answering 9-1-1 (was Back in the saddle ...)

[Guest guest]

We answer the 911 tielines with " Fire department, dispatcher ###, what is the

address of the fire? " Our counterparts at NYPD use the response, " Police

operator ####, what is the location of the police emergency? " This identifies

the

dispatcher and at the same time asks for the most important piece of

information, the location.

Raffa

Supv. Dispatcher, FDNY

Borough of Brooklyn

www.FDNewYork.com

[Guest guest]

Can I bring up a question here about how to answer 9-1-1? What do you

think is the best, most efficient way to answer a 911 call? I've

heard different ways and it seems to me the best way is to simply

say " 9-1-1 Emergency. " All the other ways, especially those which

include a question, I feel tend to confuse the caller and/or add

unneccessary delay. At my department, some of my co-workers will

answer it " 9-1-1, Do you have an emergency? " This often delays things

because the caller will answer yes, and then stop. That leaves the

call taker to ask, ok what is it? Same thing for those agencies using

the " police, fire, or medical " format. We don't use that here at all

because we're not that big and it doesn't fit. But what I see is that

it confuses the caller more often than it helps. People calling in

need don't often have the capacity to make that judgement on what

type of help they need, and it seems like you're putting a

responsibility on the caller that does not belong to them, and then

faulting them when they can't fulfill it. Determining the type and

level of response is what public safety dispatching is all about

after all. So in my experience it works best to just have the caller

tell what the problem is. I wouldn't use these words with the caller,

but the philosophy is, you tell me what the problem is and I'll

determine how to classify it.

Tom

Findlay, Ohio

KC8PPN

> Oh my... those sound so very familiar... the " Well it's not an

emergency. "

>

> Me: " Do you need police, fire or medical "

> Caller: " None of those. "

> Me: " I'm sorry sir, this is 911 and that is all I can send you. "

> Caller: " But it's not an emergency (at which point I think " then

why dial

> 911 " )... my neighbors sound like they are beating each other up and

I can

> hear her screaming. "

> Me: (frustrated about the run around but keeping the smile pasted

to my

> face) " Where is this happening? "

> Caller: " The apartment next to mine. "

>

> The last question I asked this caller was his address and city and

was

> finally able to route his call to City PD... do these people think

we are

> psychic??

>

> We also get a lot of calls for State Police (Interstate 5 runs N

and S right

> through our county as do several other state highways) and route

them to the

> OSP Dispatch center... lots of callers will dial 911, say it's not

an

> emergency, they don't need police/fire/med but there's a drunk

driver on the

> road. Who do they think normally responds to that type of

complaint...

> police maybe?!?!?

>

> Good thing I love my job and those callers are not the norm when

you look at

> the big picture.

>

> P.S. Good luck with the surgery, and a fast recovery!

>

> Tonya

> Linn Co SO 911 Dispatch

> Albany, Or

[Guest guest]

Ninehundred eleven??

;-)

Jim

Visalia, still quivering California

http://jim.techienet.com

Re: 911:: Answering 9-1-1 (was Back in the saddle ...)

> We just say " 911 " .

>

> Jim

> Mr 911

> TriCom

[Guest guest]

We answer " 911, WHERE is your emergency " . We are a default center for the

State, so we get a lot of cell callers we have to route to the appropriate

agency. If the caller's address is on my screen, it enables me to quickly

verify. Sometimes, people call from home for their neighbor or other

reasons. There are lots of different ways to answer, this one seems to

work OK.

Walt