Law Dispatcher

It’s another one of those dreaded call types.  No operator enjoys taking drowning calls.  It’s a gut wrenching call type even without knowing the details.  The biggest question that passes through the operators mind…Are they still alive…can they make it?  If you live in an area that has a lot of swimming pools or water bodies, these types of calls come in more frequently.  Here’s how you can help.  Of course, know your location.    Even if it’s a body of water that has no address.  Know the nearest cross streets.  If you know the name of the body of water, that helps.  As an operator, I do not feel comfortable telling the caller to jump in and try to save the person, especially if it’s in a natural body of water such as a lake, river, stream, or etc.  If it’s a swimming pool, and the caller is a good swimmer, go for it.  Try your best to rescue that person if at all possible.  911 operators are willing to give you instructions on CPR if you’re willing to perform it.  By the way…most of the newer CPR instructions have done away with the mouth-to-mouth breathing part.  Studies have found that most people were not willing to give mouth-to-mouth, and it isn’t necessary provided that the person down has not been too long without oxygen.  The most important part of CPR is the chest compressions.  Right now, (and this is going to change in the near future) we are asking callers to perform 600 chest compressions per minute.  Yep, that means pump that chest hard and fast…as fast as you can go.  Keep doing it until EMS arrives on scene.  You will be exhausted by the time they get there, but you will have had the satisfaction of knowing that you did all you could do.

Please know that when you call 911 for a drowning, it is a law and EMS response.

Way too many drownings are little kids that fall into pools, buckets of water, or wander off into a ditch.  Just be aware of the situation when little ones are present.  Watch them  like a hawk every minute.  Nothing is as heart-wrenching as the drowning of a child both for the operator and the parent.   I recall as a young child myself sitting in a wading pool where a baby who was barely able to sit up was placed in front of me.  A wave produced by some other kids at the other end of the pool knocked the baby over, and she was laying on the pool bottom gurgling water.  I looked at the baby and then at the mother who was busily chatting away to a friend next to her and never once looked up to check on the baby.  After some time and trying to get the mother’s attention, I couldn’t help myself but quickly pulled that baby up, turn her over and slapped her on the back.  Of course, water spewed out, and she was fine, but my utter disgust for the mother still remains with me to this day.  I still recall my exact words to that mother:  “I think you better watch your baby.”  Of course, she was all concerned over her baby and what had just happened, but I don’t think she ever got the point that her daughter nearly drowned because she failed to pay attention to her.

Drownings are common unfortuantely.  Don’t hesitate to call 911 for such incidents.

Probably one of my most dreaded types of 911 calls are fire related calls.  The only reason I suppose this has become my most hated type of call is because of the complexity of how the call is handled.  Let me take you through a brief synopsis of what a 911 operator goes through when training for fire type calls.  Initially, the operator will start off with learning to take the basic information…name, location, telephone number, and type of call.  Based upon the type of call, the operator then knows that since he or she doesn’t have emergency fire dispatch training, they transfer the call to someone who does.  I can hear you asking “What is emergency fire dispatch training?”  Glad you asked.  To sum it up in one word - HEADACHE!  You see, 911 operation centers are now seeking accreditation from agencies on dispatch training so that they can relieve some of the burden of liability.  To obtain the accreditation, each dispatcher must undergo extensive training.  For me, it was a very very long weekend of training with many more hours to come to keep my certification.   When an agency becomes accredited, they have to follow certain guidelines that are established by the accrediting agency.  These agencies have taken a vast variety of situations and tried to pigeon hole that call into a certain category but asking every question in the book except if the caller is willing to give their credit card number for processing.  Let me demonstrate:  911 call comes in.  The caller states that there is a vehicle on fire at a certain location on the interstate.    He tells the operator that the vehicle has pulled off onto the shoulder of the roadway, and everyone is out of the car.  He has told the operator all of this information is a time span of about 15 seconds.  The caller did not stop and is now 2 miles down the road from where the vehicle that is on fire is located.    Here’s where the headache begins.  Because a vehicle can be on fire in just about any setting, and because the operator is bound by policy to ask certain questions in an exact and precise manner, the 911 operator must now ask if the caller is safe and out of danger.  EH????  He just told you that he is 2 to 3 miles down the road past the incident location, and he didn’t get there by being in danger.  So you see where the operators frustration comes into play, and that is just the beginning.  I’ll be upfront and honest with you.  I HATE fire and anything that has to do with it.  I certainly don’t wish it upon anyone but when you deal with fire in any aspect…it becomes a hassle.   The headache continues through an onslaught of what seems to the caller as absolutely stupid questions and instructions such as “keep everyone away from the vehicle and do not try to retrieve personal items from the vehicle.”…Well DUH!  By now the caller into the next county and couldn’t care less about the situation.  And this is my all-time favorite instruction “Assign someone to guide the emergency crews to the fire.”  I can hear the caller thinking “Sure!  No Problem!  I’ll just do that telepathically!”

That’s just one part of the nightmare.  Another part is that my particular agency has about 35-40 different codes for fire based upon the situation.  We have a code for a boat fire in the dock or shoreline, another for boat fire on land, and another for boat fire on the water.  Do you get where I’m going with this?  It’s absolutely crazy.  No operator in their sane mind can keep all these codes straight along with all the other codes for law and medical that they need to know.  You know…you can only put so much stuff into my brain, and then somewhere along the way, some of the other stuff is going to start leaking out because you’ve filled up all the space I have for storing such useless information.

Then there is that fear of fire that a 911 operator has to get the caller past.  It is almost unheard of to have a 911 fire call come in and the caller is not in some kind of a panic or a trance.  Usually it’s the panic phase.  They are high strung on anxiety of the situation and with all the questions that we are required to ask, it appears to the caller that we are just insensitive and trying to waste their time.  Please know this….When you call 911 for a fire, the call taker should get your location and telephone number and the reason for the call.  Once that information has been obtained, there is no reason why the firecrew can’t be dispatched.  Normal protocol states that we dispatch once the call has been coded and the pertinent information is obtained (such as the location and telephone number).  All of the other questions asked should be information gathered and voiced over the radio to the responding units as it becomes available.  If this protocol is followed, it allows to responders to be on their way  to the incident, thus enabling a quicker response time.  Many many times I have been in the middle of my questioning when the crews reach the scene and that is great!    Then there is the caller who is completely overwhelmed by the situation and has gone into a trance and won’t give out any extra information than what is required of them.  They find it physically impossible to relay what is going on and can only answer basic questions.  It is because of those people, that the line of questioning has become extensive and sometimes not relative.

Here’s what you need to know.  When it invovles fire, BE SPECIFIC.  If it involves the structure or vehicle or any other type of entrapment, give the 911 operator very basic information….Address, telephone number, what’s on fire, and hang up.  Get out of danger.  911 will always try calling you back.  Answer when you have reached safety.  It’s a whole lot better that responders arrive on scene to a situation that they have no information about, than to arrive on scene to an entrapped dead person because they were stuck on the line with the 911 operator.  Use your commonscense.  Do not reenter that house or vehicle or any other structure when there is a fire.  Once you’re out…stay out.  Safety of all is our number one priority.  Always call 911 for any fire emergencies.