Re: 911:: Pet peeves

[Guest guest]

Hey, Eva.......don't think you're the only one to have a face " red in color "

from something that you've said. :-) We don't have a lot of need for

vehicle descriptions in the Fire and Medical Aid end of things......but I

know we all have our share of " be advised " incidents. Take care!

Marcia

[Guest guest]

Hi all -

I'm finally forced to throw mine in here as well:

We are the primary PSAP for our county and, as such, answer E-911 line with

" Burke County 911 - Police, Fire or Medical? " It is amazing to me how many

people answer this question with their name... " Yes, this is

and..... " ARGGGGGHHHHH!!!!

And, yes, I know they are excited, etc. and this could explain a few - but

this is constant. Drives me insane - can you tell?

Anyway, I for one have really enjoyed the discussion......

Good night to all-

-

C. A. Voigt

pvoigt@...

EMD / Telecommunicator

BCSAR Comm Unit Leader

Burke County Emergency Services

EOC:

Pager:

Home:

Fax:

said:

And about the pet peeves........caller after caller after caller I'll say

" what color " and I get this long list of sizes, shapes, car models, etc, etc,

etc......but nothing on color....and the ONLY question was " what color " .

[Guest guest]

We simply state...911..what is your emergency...? seems to work...

Happy day and be safe

Cin in good ole Ohio

[Guest guest]

OK, one more posting here, then I'm going to bed...

, I am a little confused. Why are your officers saying " puh-paw " or

papa at all on the radio???? I don't understand...maybe its too late for me

tonight?

~~The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own and do not

~~neccessarily represent those of my department or those I dispatch for.

Tom Deccio, Supervisor

Walla Walla (WA) Dispatch

www.ci.walla-walla.wa.us

decciot@...

dco911@...

> One FTO who can't say " papa " right, he says it " puh-paw " with the accent

on

> the " paw " and it sounds horrible, between the mispronunciation and the

> exploding p's ringing in your ear.

>

> About 3 months ago he released a deputy from FTO who not only says

" puh-paw "

> but also screams into the radio. He's also a good one for squealing

> feedback.

[Guest guest]

At 02:19 PM 04/04/2000 -0700, you wrote:

>His unit number is **1(other numbers taken our so not to embarrass the

>person that everyone that knows me on the list knows who I am talking about

>anyway). Most of the time all we get is 1. It got to the point I started

>saying 1 go ahead. (the goofball doesn't even realize we are making fun of

>him).

Ha! I did the same thing to a guy here...he was crew #212 at the time, and

he always came across as " 12 " (Maybe I should just be happy that he could

say TWO numbers, huh?) Several of us dispatchers told him he was cutting

himself off countless times, but to no avail. So, I told the sergeant that

this officer was cutting himself off AGAIN. The sergeant doesn't do

anything about it. The next 5 or 6 times he called, I answered " Car

twelve, go ahead " . Well, he actually goes to the sergeant, and complains

to him that *I'M* cutting myself off! Well, first of all, you wouldn't

hear " car " before the " twelve " if I was cutting myself off! Apparently

neither the officer or the sergeant understand what " cutting off " the first

part of the transmission means.

The supervisor, the same one I've complained to about this problem

countless number of times, calls me on another channel and tells me that

" 212 says you're cutting yourself off " . I said " Yea, I know. It was on

purpose--I'm trying to prove a point! " The result?: I was " talked to "

about purposely not saying the whole number, but still nothing was said to

the officer!

UNBELIEVABLE!

Guthrie

--------------------------------------

Communications Officer

Trotwood, OH PD

http://www.trotwood.org/police

--------------------------------------

Dispatcher

Brookville, OH PD

--------------------------------------

Police Officer

Township (Montgomery Co, OH) PD

http://www.cmplus.com/public/ptpd.htm

--------------------------------------

mailto:cwguth@...

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 04/05/2000 07:54:08 Central Daylight Time,

ahallmark@... writes:

<< Guess in a way, officers and EMT's need reassurance that THEIR help is on

the way. When officers are dispatched to a bad accident, it helps them to

know that EMTs are enroute. They can reassure the injured that

medical help is on the way. We have to remember that we don't SEE that

carnage though the telephone. Gotta be difficult for officers arriving on

the scene.>

We had a " follow " about a week ago that ended in a crash. Unfortunately the

crash involved a squad car who wasn't even involved in the " follow, " he just

happened to amble along in front at the wrong time. The car being " followed "

t-boned the squad car and then went on to have a light pole and tree commit

suicide on it pinning in all 4 offenders. Naturally every police officer

that WAS involved in the " follow " began screaming into their radios at the

same time for ambulances. It seemed like it took forever to get a location

out of just one voice at a time to find out where the crash really happened.

Now every car that went over to help at the crash site immediately asked if

we had ambulances rolling and also the pin in equipment because they couldn't

get the offenders out. Before the Sgt. arrived on the scene we must have

called 4 or 5 times for more EMS units ... as they were counting heads

involved....also advising about the suicidal tree and pole now imbedded in

the car. Now the SGT. arrives on the scene and she immediately starts

SCREAMING into her radio that she needs ambulances and fire trucks and tree

rescue and light pole rescue teams on the scene now...!!!! She used to be a

dispatcher by the way. I was ready to jump through the radio at her to say

the least.

She called several hours later to give us information on the officer....who

by the grace of God was treated and released....and she actually APOLOGIZED

for screaming for all that equipment. She said she knows that I had already

ordered everything that we needed and that everything was on its was as fast

as they could get there...but she said the crowd gathering (even at 0230

hours) were all screaming at her to get the equipment there since no one else

seemed to have snapped their fingers and made it appear. She said that the

citizens are the ones who she felt kept making everyone scream for more

equipment since they were getting restless that they weren't there yet. At

least she offered the explanation and the apology....!!!

Chicago (Illinois) 9-1-1

Witchy666@...

my opinions.. ..never theirs.. ..and never to be used without prior written

consent

[Guest guest]

At 12:27 AM 04/05/2000 -0500, you wrote:

>Ok another one...

>How about when you are talking to people at your window, answering a

>phone and

>an officer comes on the air blurting, 2125 I'll be out with blah, blah,

>blah at such and

>such....then he gets MAD if you have to ask him to repeat....

Yea--good one! But, when they are talking to someone at their window, they

expect us to know it--and hold their traffic until their done! We don't

need cameras in the cars to record traffic stops--we need INTERNAL cameras

so we can see what the officer is REALLY doing when they can't write

anything down!

Guthrie

--------------------------------------

Communications Officer

Trotwood, OH PD

http://www.trotwood.org/police

--------------------------------------

Dispatcher

Brookville, OH PD

--------------------------------------

Police Officer

Township (Montgomery Co, OH) PD

http://www.cmplus.com/public/ptpd.htm

--------------------------------------

mailto:cwguth@...

[Guest guest]

At 04:56 PM 04/05/2000 -0400, you wrote:

>Or when a Deputy is trying to pull on a warrant and he asks you to call the

>residence. Well, you call...they answer..you explain that you are with such

>and such SO and there is a deputy at their door. Could you please go to the

>door....Well, You get " What does he want with me? " So you can't really say

> " He has a warrant for your arrest " . So we tell them " Go to the door and find

>out " . SO we get kinda stuck in the middle and I HATE THAT !!!!!

Depending on how they sound on the phone, I use a couple of different

things in this situation. If the person sounds " decent " , like a good

person, I play dumb and tell them something like " I think he's got some

paperwork or something like that--I'm not really sure what it is. "

Or, if they sound like they have an attitude, and I think I can get away

with it [*grin*], I'll say something like " Do you know what obstructing

official business is? " When they say no, I say " it means if you don't go

talk to the officer he's going come and take you to the jail! " Believe it

or not, so far, I've gotten away with this. And except for one time, it's

worked! (The one time was a group of drunks who dialed 9-1-1 about 5

times--and, the best part was, they really DID all go to the jailhouse when

they wouldn't come to the door! I'm not sure if entry was made or what,

and it's probably good that I don't know

(I'm not suggesting that anyone do this, but if it works, AND if you're

sure you can get away with it, why not?)

Guthrie

--------------------------------------

Communications Officer

Trotwood, OH PD

http://www.trotwood.org/police

--------------------------------------

Dispatcher

Brookville, OH PD

--------------------------------------

Police Officer

Township (Montgomery Co, OH) PD

http://www.cmplus.com/public/ptpd.htm

--------------------------------------

mailto:cwguth@...

[Guest guest]

At 12:55 AM 04/07/2000 -0400, you wrote:

>Hi all -

> I'm finally forced to throw mine in here as well:

>

> We are the primary PSAP for our county and, as such, answer E-911

> line with " Burke County 911 - Police, Fire or Medical? " It is amazing to

> me how many people answer this question with their name... " Yes, this is

> and..... " ARGGGGGHHHHH!!!!

>

> And, yes, I know they are excited, etc. and this could explain a few

> - but this is constant. Drives me insane - can you tell?

>

> Anyway, I for one have really enjoyed the discussion......

>

>Good night to all-

>

>-

I used to answer " Trotwood 9-1-1, what is your emergency? " However, I got

away from all this. The caller would either say " I don't really have an

emergency... " , or " I'm not sure if this is an emergency... " , or something

like that. Also, I stopped saying the agency name, because about 1/4

people that call say " Is this Trotwood 9-1-1? " I just say " 9-1-1 " , and

leave it at that. I figure that if it's a real emergency, the caller is

going to be so worked up that their not going to really hear what you say

anyway. (And, since I work in more than one department, it cuts down on

the chance of saying the wrong agency name [again]!)

Guthrie

--------------------------------------

Communications Officer

Trotwood, OH PD

http://www.trotwood.org/police

--------------------------------------

Dispatcher

Brookville, OH PD

--------------------------------------

Police Officer

Township (Montgomery Co, OH) PD

http://www.cmplus.com/public/ptpd.htm

--------------------------------------

mailto:cwguth@...

[Guest guest]

The result?: I was " talked to "

about purposely not saying the whole number, but still nothing was said

to

the officer!

UNBELIEVABLE!

Guthrie

--------------------------------------

Communications Officer

Trotwood, OH PD

http://www.trotwood.org/police

--------------------------------------

Dispatcher

Brookville, OH PD

--------------------------------------

Police Officer

Township (Montgomery Co, OH) PD

http://www.cmplus.com/public/ptpd.htm

--------------------------------------

mailto:cwguth@...

Not unbelievable at all! That's pretty much the way things are handled in

most dispatch centers. Officers are very seldom called to task for how they

act on the radio, but we react in any way to them, we are always advised to

" not sink to their level " or " keep professional " .

Greene Central Communications

[Guest guest]

Cin, we used to do this, but now we get so many cell phone for incidents out

in the county that we are considering answering with our agency's name.

(Bellefontaine city 9-1-1, what is your emergency). We are able to transfer

the calls with a push of one button, thank heaven.

Lyn

magik@...

Re: 911:: Pet Peeves

> We simply state...911..what is your emergency...? seems to work...

>

> Happy day and be safe

>

> Cin in good ole Ohio

>

[Guest guest]

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On Fri, 7 Apr 2000 at 00:55:07,

C. A. Voigt wrote:

>

> We are the primary PSAP for our county and, as such, answer

> E-911 line with " Burke County 911 - Police, Fire or Medical? "

> It is amazing to me how many people answer this question

> with their name...

Um, perhaps you should consider changing the script a bit. Make it

a question directed at the caller personally instead of an open ended

one. For example, " Burke County 9-1-1; do you need police, fire, or

medical? "

Might help, might not. Some people just aren't gonna listen no matter

what script you employ. Personalizing it might help for a sunstantial

number of callers, however.

Just a thought.

-jackie

Jackie McElroy

y Creek Fire Dept.

Walt Disney World, Florida

(I speak for me and only me.)

http://www.reedycreekdispatch.webservepro.com

http://sites.netscape.net/mcjackie/index.html

mailto:mcjackie@...

[Guest guest]

>

> Yea--good one! But, when they are talking to someone at their window,

they

> expect us to know it--and hold their traffic until their done! We don't

> need cameras in the cars to record traffic stops--we need INTERNAL cameras

> so we can see what the officer is REALLY doing when they can't write

> anything down!

>

>

> Guthrie

-----------------------------

I have a few ideas but probably picking their nose (can't interrupt that)

they probably drove for half an hour to find a private spot to do it.

Sara Winfield

[Guest guest]

> Officers are very seldom called to task for how they

> act on the radio, but we react in any way to them, we are always advised

to

> " not sink to their level " or " keep professional " .

>

>

> Greene Central Communications

-----------------------

I can relate to that. We had an officer that was down right rude,

inconsiderate, impatient, name it he was it. We complained, ALL OF US.

Answer we got well we are working on that problem. After one really rude

comment to one of my trainee's, (to the effect that you are too slow and

just never mind) I called the Sgt. on the phone, he said " I think you're

being over sensitive and taking it personally, I didn't notice it. " Hello??

It couldn't of been more obvious. Of course he couldn't do too much on the

spot anyways the officer worked for another agency. But at least he could

acknowledge the problem. This went on for about a month with the same

answer " we are working on the problem " One night this officer got rude with

the deputies on the radio. He was trying to get out to make a traffic stop

but got covered by two officers enroute to an injury accident. (One of many

that the only dispatcher on duty was handling) Due to the many accidents the

dispatcher did not get to run the officer's info through BMV which made him

mad. When he cleared his traffic stop he got on the radio and told the other

officer he didn't know the radio was reserved just for him. Of course when

the rude comments were directed to another officer the problem was handled

the next day. Heard the Lt. in the Sheriff's office talking to him about

it. That really PMO because we complained for a month and it happens once

to a patrol officer and the problem is handled immediately. I also love the

excuse I hear from them if I call them on getting rude with me, " Well I was

under alot of stress at the time, this (fill in the blank) was happening. "

Yeah well so was I but I was able to remain professional.

Sara Winfield

Union County Ohio

[Guest guest]

One final thought on " be advised " ....this is one of the " tools " in my " tool

box " . I use " be advised " as sort of an un-tone tone. It's a way to get

their attention for information they reallly need to know. " Be advised, the

suspect has a weapon. " " Be advised, that party has a prior arrest for

carrying a concealed weapon. Use caution. "

I also used it just the other night when I was FED UP to the gills. I have

a trainee with me on the NCIC desk. Naturally, she is a lot slower than us

veterans. She was doing fine, just a little slow, but units kept asking

" Did you get anything back yet? " which was a) slowing her down even more and

shaking her confidence a little. I keyed up and said " We are working

with a trainee over here, your patience is appreciated. " Then one poor

street rookie flipped over, ran something, then made the mistake of asking

about it. Well, I just snapped! (Extremely unusual for me!) I keyed up

and said " All units, all units, BE ADVISED, I have a trainee over here. She

is doing the best she can, you asking for it will not get it back any

faster, in fact it slows her down because she has to stop what she's doing

to answer you! Your patience is appreciated. " It kinda loses something

without the voice tone, though. What's really funny is, last night was

supposed to be her last night with me, and I got pulled to cover a main

channel because the dispatcher over there had to go to the hospital. Chest

pains, she's fine now! Anyway, rookie recognized my voice from talking to

me when I was on his channel before, called in and said he'd missed hearing

me lately--he didn't realize that was me on NCIC! We both got a good laugh

out of it, luckily his feelings weren't TOO bruised, although he did get a

lot of ribbing from the other guys about being the one who set me off!

I guess my whole point here is this: each of us has our own habits, that our

units are more or less adjusted to. My guys know to listen up when I say

" be advised " , that what I'm saying then is extra important.

Just my opinion.

Kim

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 00-04-07 18:02:08 EDT, you write:

<< What is your emergency? " Accentuating on the What is your Emergency. For

us it seemed to direct the callers attention to the purpose of their

>>

ok, two more occurred to me today -- the greeting I learned to use is " 911

what are you reporting " ......and some citizens just crack me up when there's

this pause on the phone and they say " I ..... am......reporting " -- it seems

to change the whole tenor of the call for them -- some seem to get into a

more " professional citizen " mode and get right down to answering the

questions we need answered. Others seem to feel more, I don't know, more

self-important? And they will go on and on " reporting " a story -- or at

least want to " report " the whole story. Never know which way its going to

go. However, the ones I hear it from the most -- the " I am reporting " are

children -- and EVERYONE of them has been incredible to respond to. You can

tell in an instant they are scared, they know they have undertaken an

incredible responsibility and when they think of " reporting " to them its the

biggest thing in their life. I've had 3 children with major emergencies ....

an 8 child who was left with his 6 year old niece and 1 year old sibling for

over 10 hours (don't ask what I wanted to do to the parent), another who's

had a fire in her house and her brother was trying putting it out and this

one got me the most, the day I got back from my mom's funeral I had an 11

year old on the phone who, from the description she gave of her mom and what

was going, was having a heart attack. My heart and soul went out to that

little girl.

So, " what are you reporting " can go either way but I like the ones who cut to

the chase better.

And the OTHER is " well this isn't really an emergency but...... "

Oh yeah and this only happened to me once, but it happened Tuesday and its

still bugging me -- this guy speed dialed 911 into his phone.....911 is

ALREADY a speed dial!!!!!!! and he checks it each month to be sure it still

works!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh -- and told me it was ok to

do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest guest]

Think I might have a clue: Army Phonetic Alphabet. A B C D =

Alpha,Bravo,Charlie,Delta With some letters a pronunciation was given

P=Papa= Puh-paw Q-Quebec pronounced Kay-Beck. Not positive but if

officer transmits a " Q " as Kay-Beck. Thats your answer.

Vern

Retired

Tom Deccio wrote:

>

> OK, one more posting here, then I'm going to bed...

>

> , I am a little confused. Why are your officers saying

> " puh-paw " or

> papa at all on the radio???? I don't understand...maybe its too late

> for me

> tonight?

>

> ~~The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own and do not

> ~~neccessarily represent those of my department or those I dispatch

> for.

>

> Tom Deccio, Supervisor

> Walla Walla (WA) Dispatch

> www.ci.walla-walla.wa.us

> decciot@...

> dco911@...

>

>;;;;;;;;;;;;;;SNIP;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 04/05/2000 10:25:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

usvetX3@... writes:

<< Well you could always tell him the roof is on fire, fire department is

on the way, and he should get out of the house.

vern

Retired

Severed Proudly >>

Good Idea Vern..I'll remember that next time...Kristy

[Guest guest]

I guess we went a bit further by answering: " Newark 9-1-1. Emergency,

What is your emergency? " Accentuating on the What is your Emergency. For

us it seemed to direct the callers attention to the purpose of their

call.

Vern

Retired

Served Proudly

;;;;;;;snip;;;;;;;;;;

> >

> > We are the primary PSAP for our county and, as such, answer

> > E-911 line with " Burke County 911 - Police, Fire or Medical? "

> > It is amazing to me how many people answer this question

> > with their name...

>

> Um, perhaps you should consider changing the script a bit. Make it

> a question directed at the caller personally instead of an open ended

> one. For example, " Burke County 9-1-1; do you need police, fire, or

> medical? "

>

> Might help, might not. Some people just aren't gonna listen no matter

> what script you employ. Personalizing it might help for a sunstantial

> number of callers, however.

>

> Just a thought.

>

> -jackie

>

>

[Guest guest]

This is very true, having been there myself, I know what it is like. As

a dispatcher I always told the dispatched units Fire and ambulance are

enroute. If one asked for ETA, they got my stock answer. " Affirm,

enroute code-3 (our Lights and Siren} Unless there was a known delay.

Vern

Retired

Served Proudly

Witchy666@... wrote:

>

> In a message dated 04/05/2000 07:54:08 Central Daylight Time,

> ahallmark@... writes:

>

> << Guess in a way, officers and EMT's need reassurance that THEIR help

> is on

> the way. When officers are dispatched to a bad accident, it helps

> them to

> know that EMTs are enroute. They can reassure the injured that

> medical help is on the way. We have to remember that we don't SEE

> that

> carnage though the telephone. Gotta be difficult for officers

> arriving on

> the scene.>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Being in a smaller agency, we did not have many problems with our

officers on the Radio. Oh we always had one or two who could drive you

nuts. Our new officers were required to sit radio several shifts,

required to answer phones and dispatch calls. Their FTO's would come in

radio and check with the dispatchers on how his trainee sounded on the

air, was he following procedures etc. This was part of the training the

newbie went through. They were graded on radio procedures,

and if the Dispatchers said they were goofing up they got a poor grade

and were expected to improve.

Vern

Retired

Served Proudly

Freida Cameron wrote:

>

> <<<snip>>... Officers are very seldom called to task for how they act

> on the radio,

> but we react in any way to them, we are always advised to " not sink to

> their level "

> or " keep professional " .

>

> >

> > Greene Central Communications

> > <<snip>>

>

> You know that is a funny line.....seems in some cases the only time we

> are

> " professional " is when someone wants to reprimand us. And, aren't

> police officers

> etc considered " professionals " also?

>

> Freida

> Lavergne PD

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have been absent for a week-on the road, unable to check E-mail, went to

TN GA AL,

here is a few Pet Peeves from the unthinkable file:

OFFICER: local check on Bob Ungerstalisky

DISPATCH: can you spell that?

OFFICER: 10-4 B-boy O-Ocean B-boy (you got the picture)

DISPATCH: Bolo for a Green 1975 Oldsmobile Station Wagon with Yellow spots

painted all over

the vehicle, will have 15-20 Bicycles tied on the roof occupied by 11

Hispanics southbound I55

MI lic abc123 phone number on file ref death in family.

1st OFFICER: 10-4 on the dispatch what was that license number?

2ndOFFICER(before dispatch could answer): YOU DON't NEED THE LICENSE NUMBER

IF YOU

CAN'T FIND IT BY THE DESC> YOU NEED TO GO HOME!

[Guest guest]

<<<snip>>... Officers are very seldom called to task for how they act on the

radio,

but we react in any way to them, we are always advised to " not sink to their

level "

or " keep professional " .

>

> Greene Central Communications

> <<snip>>

You know that is a funny line.....seems in some cases the only time we are

" professional " is when someone wants to reprimand us. And, aren't police

officers

etc considered " professionals " also?

Freida

Lavergne PD

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 04/08/2000 11:21:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

mwhitley@... writes:

<< I have been absent for a week-on the road, unable to check E-mail, went to

TN GA AL, >>

Marcus...you were in Georgia and didn't let me know?????

I'm deeply hurt now

Kristy Rohm

Supervisor, Clayton Co 911

boro, Ga.

NitePrey2@...

[Guest guest]

author unknown:

<< how bout when we dispatch an officer to an injury accident and they come

back

and say, Dallas do you have rescue enroute? ya wanna say, No, thought we

would wait till you get there, >>

Who doesnt get this.. cant you just think of a million come backs for it?

" radio.. Im 10-7 (onscene) with flames showing.. confirming FD is

enroute? " ... " well, nah, we figured you could handle it " .

Toni Wyman, (CTO)...Gwinnett County Police, GA ( just N of HotLanta)

770 Hi Hope Rd, Lawrenceville, GA 30046

(These are only my opinions, not my agency's, after all they are the

government and they have opinions of their own)

For liability reasons my posts and opinions are to be reprinted with my

permission only

Email to: E911gal136@...