Calling 911? FORGET ABOUT IT!

[H.T.]

Caleb, Why didn't you just shoot the Owl?

 

[H.T.]

You'll shoot your eye out; Where abouts do you live? If it is an area covered by a Vol. department then it takes more time. Not to mention the road conditions.
Further more a arcing electric line doesn't take priorty over, working fires,Car wrecks, heart attacks, strokes, shootings, stabbings, overdoses,etc.

 

[DRob]

There is a large and ever-growing number of people who believe their issue, regardless of it's importance, takes precedence over everything else. In this age of cellphones, all it takes is a serious wreck on a busy highway to completely overwhelm the best designed and staffed 911 center. You mean well and call 911 but so do 100 other people who drive by. At least 90% of those calls will go unanswered and a lot of people who know nothing about the system will badmouth everybody they can think of. Interestingly enough, the typical 911 center's equipment will detect every call, answered or not, and provide a printout of the caller's number, whether the call was answered or not, and how long the caller was on the. IMPD's communication system has been doing this for 20 years. It was always interesting to look into a complaint that "I was on the phone for 8 minutes and nobody ever answered", research the printout, and find the caller hung up after 24 seconds. Happens every day.

 

[IndyGunworks]

It was always interesting to look into a complaint that "I was on the phone for 8 minutes and nobody ever answered", research the printout, and find the caller hung up after 24 seconds. Happens every day.

VERY much so.... Its been my experience to take whatever number someone says they were waiting, and its normally closer to 10 percent of the time they are saying. Even for yesterdays chaos I think 8 minutes is probably exaggerated to at least some degree.

I will also add, that if it was important enough to dial 911, why was it not important enough to stay on the phone until you spoke with someone? If it wasn't important enough to stay on the line, why didn't you call a non emergent number in the first place? Did you call IPL and report it as well?

 

[Caleb]

Caleb, Why didn't you just shoot the Owl?

Owls are protected and I can get into big **** if I shot it.

 

[JetGirl]

Ambulurve

 

[IndyDave1776]

This is one of those times when we need to remind ourselves that reasonable expectations are in order.

1. Emergency personnel are neither omniscient nor omnipotent, much as the politicians would like to convince us they are. This is especially important to remember at a time in which everybody and his dog is calling in an emergency and someone has to determine if it is an actual emergency and then determine the proper responders and prioritize the calls, all of which take time.

2. Some pinhead calling 911 about Aunt Grace's toenail fungus ties up the line just as much as the call for someone else's house catching fire. Having never worked in emergency services I don't know for a fact, but my guess is that Murphy's Law applies to them just as much as it does anyone else and these people have a tendency to act up at the most inopportune times.

3. As previously mentioned, the weather slows everyone down. Neither the police nor the firemen have an exemption from the laws of physics which apply to driving in snow belly deep on a tall horse.

4. If you are not prepared to deal with whatever may happen yourself, you are taking a chance. You may be taking a large chance or a small one, but no one is guaranteed nor entitled to emergency services in half a flash at any time 24/7/365.

*As a corollary to the fourth statement, it is wise to evaluate the chances you are taking before they become an issue. This means insuring that you have the proper equipment in ready to use condition and the knowledge to use it when the need arises. It is necessary to have adequate preps kept in such a way as to be useful (where I got caught flat-footed having most still in storage after moving) and be capable of using them. In my case, this amounted to having a source of heat which is not electricity-dependent, a method of cooking, in my case a grill (with special thanks to phylodog for guidance on using a ceramic grill similar to his BGE--I have used a Traeger so far, which requires electricity and is self-igniting and self-regulating and had not yet taken the time to play with the new Saffire), and of course plenty of food that is suitable for storage without climate control or other on the grid requirements. That leaves me with a generator, adequate fire suppression (i.e., more than an extinguisher for a small fire), and an adequate means of clearing the 1/4 mile drive yet to deal with.

 

[vitamink]

Trust me if a transformer blows, you're not the only person calling about it. An accident on the interstate will tie up phone lines from people who were in the accident calling, those that witnessed the accident calling, passing the accident calling, and people calling that are sitting in traffic after the police are there to inform them that traffic is going slow so there may be an accident up ahead. This is then followed by people calling wondering what the hold up is, and people calling to complain that the officer was rude when they stopped in the middle of the interstate to ask "what happened?". If an event is an open air event, plane crash, explosion, crazy guy screaming in the street etc, multiple people are calling. Don't think that because your call wasn't answered immediately the other 25 people that called about the same thing didn't get through.

 

[You'll shoot your eye out]

1- All cell phones log the time to an amazing degree of accuracy
2- Toenail fungus cannot possibly tie up the lines the same as a house fire IF NOBODY IS ANSWERING THE PHONES!
3- When my house burned down while I watched there was no "surge" condition.

IndyGunworks, I am sorry if I gave the impression that I thought you don't do a great job. Nothing could be further from the truth. As the saying goes, "You run in while others are running out!". If you were there when I stroked out then thanks much, Good job, carry on. As I said before, I am not angry at the people as much as I am at the system. It's plainly inadequate. I am personally at 33% 911 success rate BY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, Is this good enough for everybody? Anybody?

DRob, What I was seeing going on in the trailer court did indeed take precedence in my mind over the toenail fungus lady..... So yes, you are right. I wouldn't say that I know nothing about the system..... I know that it doesn't work. I have a one in three success rate with the system, That is real world, actual field data. I know that I am paying enough taxes that we can send men all over the 3rd world and burn their houses down, but we don't have enough men at home to cover our OWN needs. As far as getting a printout of 911 calls goes, I know that is false. I tried To get one when my house burned because I wanted to document that they seemingly disregarded my call and then hung up on me. It would have all been there, both sides of the conversation. I was assured at every turn that the record didn't exist and further, even if it did, I couldn't have it.

IndyDave, Yes, yes personal responsibility, yada yada yada. I am not saying that you are wrong at all, I am just saying that it's a big scarey world and you cannot possibly prepare for every contingent. For instance there is not one person on INGO who is prepared to block the lightning bolt that set my house on fire. It traveled 10,000 feet from above. My puss phaser shields and ablative armor were no match for it. I did own and use my fire extinguisher. If fire extinguishers were any good on fires though, they wouldn't be able to sell firetrucks. There are guys prepared for what went on in the trailer court, but I never spoke to them. Not that I didn't try.

I am just frustrated. I don't want to bash anybody except the guys who are IN CHARGE. The failure rate in America is outrageous. NOTHING works. IndyGunworks is working at a frantic pace, yet 911 response is still at 33%. The economy is still in the garbage bin while we spend resources to fix a healthcare system that is in better shape than the economy is. Unemployment is horrible yet we can't get enough employees to handle phones. We can send helicopter ninjas to kill Osama Bin-Laden but we can't be bothered to send them to defend our people in Libya. Hell, I can go on for pages. Yesterday something horrible was happening in the trailer court. The indirect light got my attention 1/2 mile away, with my back to the event. I couldn't see the actual arcing directly, and it was still BAD. In the trailer court it must of been terrifying. IndyGunworks is busting at the seams, roaring to go and get some, but I can't get the information to him because there is a politician between us wasting our money.

The fail was right in my face yesterday. It wasn't like my house was burning down, because at that time everybody was safe, my insurance was paid, and I had gotten the chance to report it, even if she didn't believe that it was true. Yesterday looked gruesome. It was ugly. Electricity is dangerous stuff and it was arcing continuously. A trailer court is full of METAL BOXES full of people. Sure, 100 people could have been calling it in...... UNLESS THEY WERE ALL DEAD!!!

Being put on hold irritated me. I am glad that I didn't have an emergency at MY house, because if I had I would now be dead. If guys think that I am hysterical (pc language that indicates I am acting like a woman, sorry JetGirl......) That's ok, disregard my post. I just took advantage of the forum to vent my frustration, I'm not sorry, I will probably offend again.