9-1-1: “Just the facts, Sir.”

May 8, 2013

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Should 9-1-1 operators kiss your ass, or save it?

IMG_2363Recent news coverage of the escape of three women from a decade long imprisonment, after their kidnappings as teens, has many people commenting on a perceived lack of empathy or concern for the victims on the part of the 9-1-1 operators in Cleveland, Ohio.  Most of the criticism is unwarranted.

Amanda Berry, the woman who escaped from the house, can be heard calling 9-1-1, here. The call by the man who assisted her, Charles Ramsey, can be heard here.  Go listen, then come back and let me give you my take on the calls.

Ok, back?  Before we begin, a reminder:  I’m a 9-1-1 dispatcher.  I’ve been employed in this position by a county Sheriff’s Department in Central California since July of 1994.  Which county is not germain, as this commentary is my personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of that agency.

That said, now it’s time to decide – should the 9-1-1 operator kiss your ass, or save it?

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They finally made a movie about a dispatcher. This could be bad.

March 8, 2013

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2013-03-08 at 1.44.23 AM

So I’ve seen the promos at the theater.  A lot of the background looks realistic, the situation has happened before.  What I’m not to sure about is the idea that she gets involved in a call.  “This one made it personal”.  I’m hoping for the best.  It is Hollywood, so there’s no telling what will happen.  Just remember, it’s only a movie!  (unless it’s really, really good.  Then it’s exactly like our center, and we’re all heroes like Halle Berry.)

Want the picture with YOUR jurisdiction in the map background? Here.

Texting to 9-1-1 is just around the corner

January 23, 2013

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, News , , , , , 1 Comment

Sending text messages to 9-1-1 is something few PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points) are ready to receive.  The ability is in the works, however, and the FCC is working with carriers and 9-1-1 centers to roll out the service beginning this year.  If you attempt to send a text message to a 9-1-1 center that is not capable of receiving it, after June 30, 2013  you will get a “bounce back” message telling you to use other means to reach 9-1-1.  Prior to June 30, you will receive no notice that your message did not go through.  Equipment upgrades and policy decisions must still be implemented in most PSAPs before they will be able to respond to text based 9-1-1 calls.  If you intend to use text messages as a way to contact 9-1-1, you should check with your local PSAP to find out when they will be able to receive and act on your message.  Until then, use voice, TTY, or relay services to reach 9-1-1.

9-1-1 Dispatchers hanging up on new A&E show, “Panic 9-1-1″

November 30, 2012

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary , , , , , , 2 Comments

panic-911From A&E’s community message board for their new “reality” show “Panic 911“:

A&E’s new thriller series “Panic 9-1-1” takes 911 calls to a whole new level never seen or heard before on television. Unlike emergency shows of the past, viewers will live inside the calls and experience every harrowing and terrifying moment along with the caller. Every second is real.
One part thriller and one part true-crime show, “Panic 9-1-1” features the real, urgent, unrehearsed, 911 call audio in real-time between emergency dispatchers and frantic callers as life and death situations unfold around them. Each call is a race against time where the dispatcher is the caller’s only lifeline, gathering critical information from the caller to give to first responders. When literally every second counts, getting the right details is crucial. Who lives and who dies remains a mystery until the very end.

In the real world of 9-1-1 dispatching, the verdict is in: this show sucks.

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Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?

November 8, 2012

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary , , , Leave a comment

Sometimes you just can’t tell who will be able to convey information to you and who will not.  Disregarding folks who are new to an area, or just visiting, there’s still a huge number of people, or so it seems sometimes, who simply don’t know the basics about where they are, and which way is up.

Well, I suppose they can figure out which way is up, but trying to get north, east, south, or west out of them is like pulling those proverbial teeth out of those proverbial hens.  Some folks just have no clue.

Now, they’ll tell us it’s “to the left”, but, really….  that doesn’t help.  Turn around and your “left” is now the opposite direction!  And telling me that it’s now to your right won’t improve the situation!

You guessed it…  another 9-1-1 caller without a clue, calling in on a cell phone.  No idea of the address of the house they live in, no idea which way east is, and unclear on what “get a piece of mail and read me the address” means.

It’s most annoying when they get mad at US for not knowing where THEY are!  I want to reach through that phone and slap them silly.  That’s probably why that particular feature is not activated on our systems.  Part of our job is protecting the public.  Even from us!  ;-)   Kidding!  (sort of)

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LOL… just LOL

October 20, 2012

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary, Humor , , , , , 1 Comment

I don’t dispatch medical, so I had to look up the acronym ETOH.  It refers to ethyl alcohol…  booze.

What’s it like at 9-1-1? It’s like this…

May 18, 2012

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary, Personal , , , , , Leave a comment

Our center is not as roomy or well lit (too many of my co-workers want to work in the dark!), but this video gives a great overview of most modern 9-1-1 centers.  We don’t have to do the medical pre-arrival aspect in our center, that’s handled by the Tulare County Consolidated Ambulance Dispatch staff, and the Tulare County Fire Department has their own dispatch center, but everything else is pretty spot-on.  Whatever the type of call, we deal with it first, directing it to TCCAD or TCFD if required, or taking information and dispatching Tulare County Sheriff Deputies, or police officers from Farmersville, Exeter, Woodlake, and Lindsay Police Departments.  Prince George’s County, Maryland, has a state-of-the-art 9-1-1 center, and is an example to which other centers can aspire.  Every type of incident here, except the medical instructions, is something I’ve dealt with in the past, and just when you think you’ve heard it all, the Universe will toss something at you, as if to say “oh, no you haven’t!”.

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week April 8-14, 2012

April 13, 2012

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary, Personal , , , , , Leave a comment

By Chief Thomas Wagoner
Loveland (Colo.) Police Department

Someone once asked me if I thought that answering telephones for a living was a profession. I said, “I thought it was a calling.”

And so is dispatching. I have found in my law enforcement career that dispatchers are the unsung heroes of public safety. They miss the excitement of riding in a speeding car with lights flashing and sirens wailing. They can only hear of the bright orange flames leaping from a burning building. They do not get to see the joy on the face of worried parents as they see their child begin breathing on its own, after it has been given CPR.

Dispatchers sit in darkened rooms looking at computer screens and talking to voices from faces they never see. It’s like reading a lot of books, but only half of each one.

Dispatchers connect the anxious conversations of terrified victims, angry informants, suicidal citizens and grouchy officers. They are the calming influence of all of them-the quiet, competent voices in the night that provide the pillars for the bridges of sanity and safety. They are expected to gather information from highly agitated people who can’t remember where they live, what their name is, or what they just saw. And then, they are to calmly provide all that information to the officers, firefighters, or paramedics without error the first time and every time.

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End of vacation

April 13, 2012

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary, Personal , , , Leave a comment

Well, technically, the vacation ended yesterday.  With my regular days off, I go back to work Monday.  Hope I remember how to tell them where to go!

If Only…

October 11, 2011

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary Leave a comment

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