Re: 911:: Re: Post Concerning Call 911 and Pray

[Guest guest]

I read the article. It isn't all bad. Mostly it is geared toward EMS. The

article cites the shortage of people, the lack of training and the overwhelming

amount of calls. There are some swipes at sending units to the wrong address,

calls that never get sent etc. I can't say I liked what I read....but, in a

large

part, I had to agree. It wasn't exactly " fair and balanced " ...but it didn't

paint

us all with a broad brush either.

Freida

LaVergne, TN

> Goodhousekeeping Sept 2001

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/28/01 5:55:38 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

fresca@... writes:

> I read the article. It isn't all bad. Mostly it is geared toward EMS. The

> article cites the shortage of people, the lack of training and the

> overwhelming

> amount of calls. There are some swipes at sending units to the wrong

> address,

> calls that never get sent etc. I can't say I liked what I read....but, in a

> large

> part, I had to agree. It wasn't exactly " fair and balanced " ...but it didn't

> paint

> us all with a broad brush either.

>

>

I have to agree with your take on the article. I did find that it was

interesting that out of the millions of calls answered by 911 operators they

only cited a handful of errors.

I also found it interesting that the said that many states do not require EMD

certification in order to answer 911. We keep up with training pretty well

in NJ. We do, however, suffer from the large " turnover " rate and the

abundant overtime as mentioned in the article. Many of our dispatchers are

guys and gals looking to be police officers and take the job as dispatcher

just to get a foot in the door.

Not hard to imagine why they leave when becoming a rookie affords you double

the salary of being a dispatcher. If I were younger and braver I might try

it myself!

Patty

BTPD NJ

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/29/01 8:39:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

wilson_k1@... writes:

> . If

> it weren't so dangerous, I would love for them to go

> one day without us and then see what they have to say

> about us being part of the show.

>

>

We are very fortunate in my department that we don't really have this

problem. We are a relatively small department and everyone knows everyone

else personally. The dispatchers attend morning roll call and we see our

officers at the beginning of every shift. Most of us are actually assigned

to a shift so we work with these guys and gals all the time. For the most

part our officers realize what a valuable part of their lives we actually

are. The few new rookies that have come through with that " I'm better than

you are attitude " soon find out that a dispatcher can make your life very,

very miserable in small ways. It also means alot that our training officers

and Sgts and most of the guys with at least a few years on make sure they

tell the rookies how inportant we are. Not a day goes by that we aren't told

by our officers what a great job we are doing or that they wouldn't take our

jobs for twice the salary.

Now if we could only figure out a way that these wonderful guys would decide

on our salary levels!!!

Patty

BTPD NJ

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/29/01 8:34:42 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

wilson_k1@... writes:

> I think that people have been so spoiled that they can

> no longer think for themselves. All over, you have

> people telling you how to vote, what TV shows to

> watch, what toilet paper to buy.

I agree with you on the influence of TV, movies and commercials. But I think

one of the biggest problems is the fact that our government has become such

an enabling influence that we no longer have the sense to get out of our own

way. We have social programs for everything imaginable. If you don't want

to work, we have a program that will support you and your family. If you go

to a bar and drink yourself silly and wrap your car around a pole you can sue

the bartender because he should have known you had enough to drink. When the

news starts reporting accidents during police chases of criminals the

government announces that we will no longer chase criminals (dateline, Newark

NJ). If you commit a really, really serious crime like rape or murder we

have built in excuses ready at your disposal. You can plead that you were

abused as a child, you were adopted (also case law in NY) you can tell the

judge you never had the same opportunities as everyone else because of your

race, religion, geographic location. Just like the local Chinese restaurant,

pick an excuse...one from column A and one from column B. Oh and as a

special added bonus we, the taxpayers, will pay your attorney's fees! If we

don't soon change our attitudes I am afraid to see what this country will

look like and what a sad place it will be to live in 50 years or so.

Patty

BTPD NJ

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/31/01 6:48:57 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

rweintraut@... writes:

> Need a phone number.... dial 9-1-1

> Need to know if school's closed... dial 9-1-1

> Need a weather report... dial 9-1-1

> Need to know why traffic's jammed... dial 9-1-1

>

> And by allowing this practice to continue for years, we've contributed

> to the problems of " not helping yourself " and " lack of personal

> responsibility " .

>

>

Which is the main reason I will NOT answer any of those questions!

Patty

BTPD NJ

[Guest guest]

On Thu, 30 Aug 2001 11:57:19 -0600, >

wrote:

|In southeastern Iowa Da Fone Company, in its infinite wisdom, has started to

|use area code 919 for some cell phones. I've heard that the false 911 cell

|calls have increased exponentially.

And our wonderful company, Cincinnati Bell, has decided the voice mail number

for

Northern Kentucky should be 2911234. Guess how many people a DAY miss that

first 2? " Oh {stupid giggle} I was just trying to reach my voice mail. "

Sheesh again.

Chris