Daily Dose of Common Sense

Is it me, or has 911 become a self-help line? In recent news, there have been some crazy requests called into the hotline that is supposed to be for EMERGENCIES only. For example:

• In November, a Florida man called 911 looking for sex. He claimed it was the only number that would work since his cell minutes ran out.
• A volunteer firefighter in Colorado was just arrested last week for making 48 phony 911 calls. Depressed and suicidal, the woman seemed most interested in monitoring the law enforcement response to her calls.
• A Texas woman called 911 to report that her husband wouldn’t eat his dinner. She has also called the emergency line to report her dogs missing or that she couldn’t find her clothes.
• Today, a mom in Boston called 911 because her son would not stop playing video games. Police responded and were able to convince the child to go to sleep.

It seems that some people have lost the ability to judge what is an emergency. I was taught that 911 should only be used in a life-threatening situation. Minor injuries, routine medical check-ups, parental assistance, and loneliness don’t count.

This article has a great discussion of the increasing abuse of the 911 system:

If you call 911 because your toilet is overflowing, the fire department will come. Call 911 because you’re lonely, the fire department comes. If you call 911 but call back to say you changed your mind, it’s too late.

The fire department will come.

“We err on the side of responding,” [Lt. Jake Nyhart of St. Petersburg Fire Rescue] said. “That one time you miss a real call and someone dies, you’re liable.”

Some communities have carried out 911-awareness campaigns to educate the public on when it is appropriate (or not appropriate) to contact emergency services. According to the article, these sorts of efforts generally only increase the number of non-emergency calls to 911.

The unfortunate part is that these trips cost money, sometimes three or four hundred dollars a pop. And, since it’s taxpayer money at work, that means you and I are on the hook for it. I think anyone who calls 911 for a non-emergency situation should be issued a bill. They should be expected to pay back their frivolous waste of taxpayer money. Then, perhaps they would think twice about calling the next time a non-emergency occurs.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 10:36 pm and is filed under Stupidity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.