Ahh, I hate to say it, but that dispatcher is me.........
Well, I've been dreading making this post, but stuff happens, ya know? Last week I found out that me and my kids have to move away. Although a tough development to say the least, I'm in good spirits and I think this will eventually be for the best somewhere down the road. It may take awhile to feel like it, but I'm confident this will somehow work out.
I've decided that the best thing for me and my young'uns is to go and be close to my family in the Dallas area until I can get back on my feet. My Mom, Dad, and Sister all live near there and have really stepped up to support me.
I've already started to apply at several law enforcement agencies in the area and have no doubt I'll find a new home in 911 somewhere around there. I've turned in my notice here and many of my co-workers have already shown their regret, but also their support. I must say, I'm really gonna miss my home town. The people here at my job (officers and dispatchers alike) have really been like an extended family to me and I'm certainly gonna miss them.
As for my blog, I'm so dissapointed because I was really starting to enjoy this. I am definately going to start back up again once I'm back in the game, but for now, I'm gonna have to stop posting. The next few weeks are going to be hard for me and my kids. We'll be settling into our new life and probably won't have alot of time on the computer. But, like I said, I'll eventually find a new home in 911 and will definately resume posting. I know no matter where I go, the calls are still just as crazy!
So, for now, this blog will still be up, but it will be on the back-burner for a little while. You might check back in a month or so, and hopefully, I'll start rolling again.
Till then,
Jeremy
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Dont Pee On My Wall!
Well I'm slackin a little bit because I meant to post yesterday, but here it is.
A man very excitedly tells me "He's got a gun!" I asked who, he says the guy across the alley behind the resturaunt. "He said he's fixin to come over here and shoot me". After I get the description of the guy I ask if he knows him and asks what's going on?. He tells me that when he was outside he saw this guy standing behind the resturaunt peeing on the wall. This gets my caller mad so he starts yelling at him. The urinator in turn gets mad also (I don't blame him, I don't like being bothered when I'm trying to pee) and they get into a yelling match. Then the urinator yells he's got a gun and he's gonna come put a cap in the caller. I said where is he now? Then he says"He's coming over here and now he's got several freinds. (Apparently he had several friends on the other side of the building). There's fixin to be a brawl!" and then he hangs up the phone on me.
Of course we treat any gun call very seriously and had several officers dispatched and on the way even before the guy hung up on me. Luckily though, this happened within a few blocks of the police department and we had one officer who was just a block away at the time. He rolls up and breaks it up before anything happens. Many other officers arrive and help. There were several people involved, but nobody had a gun. It was just a threat to scare my caller. He happened to be the only one with a weapon by the way. He had a bat. Anyways, nobody got hurt and these guys didnt have a chance to really do much because we were there pretty dang quick.
Oh and the urinating in public offender got away with it. We have to have an officer basically catch them in the act so to speak before we can give him a ticket or take him to jail. And even though the evidence is still on the wall, CSI isnt gonna come out and DNA test it for us. I'm betting though next time he's gotta go, he'll probably hold it till he gets a little further down the road.
A man very excitedly tells me "He's got a gun!" I asked who, he says the guy across the alley behind the resturaunt. "He said he's fixin to come over here and shoot me". After I get the description of the guy I ask if he knows him and asks what's going on?. He tells me that when he was outside he saw this guy standing behind the resturaunt peeing on the wall. This gets my caller mad so he starts yelling at him. The urinator in turn gets mad also (I don't blame him, I don't like being bothered when I'm trying to pee) and they get into a yelling match. Then the urinator yells he's got a gun and he's gonna come put a cap in the caller. I said where is he now? Then he says"He's coming over here and now he's got several freinds. (Apparently he had several friends on the other side of the building). There's fixin to be a brawl!" and then he hangs up the phone on me.
Of course we treat any gun call very seriously and had several officers dispatched and on the way even before the guy hung up on me. Luckily though, this happened within a few blocks of the police department and we had one officer who was just a block away at the time. He rolls up and breaks it up before anything happens. Many other officers arrive and help. There were several people involved, but nobody had a gun. It was just a threat to scare my caller. He happened to be the only one with a weapon by the way. He had a bat. Anyways, nobody got hurt and these guys didnt have a chance to really do much because we were there pretty dang quick.
Oh and the urinating in public offender got away with it. We have to have an officer basically catch them in the act so to speak before we can give him a ticket or take him to jail. And even though the evidence is still on the wall, CSI isnt gonna come out and DNA test it for us. I'm betting though next time he's gotta go, he'll probably hold it till he gets a little further down the road.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Just Tell Them To Hurry Up!!!
It's funny how differently people react to emergency situations. Some people are as calm as can be, and others will completely freak out. Heard the story one time from another dispatcher who took a call from an elderly man one morning. He had fallen and broken his hip while trying to get back into bed in the middle of the night. He had his phone right next to him on his lamp stand, but waited for the rest of the night just laying on the floor, unable to move, because he didnt want to bother anyone in the middle of the night. He finally called around 8am and asked for an ambulance.
In today's call, a man in his 30's was eating and got some food stuck in his throat blocking his airway. He had his brother there during this call. Unfortunately, brother was freakin out. The mom is the one who made the 911 call and was actually somewhat calm. I was trying to find out if the brother knew how to do the heimlich. So as I was talking to the mom, the brother was screaming at the top of his lungs in the background, "Just tell them to hurry up!!!" He kept screaming this literally about every 3 or 4 seconds. I asked the mom if he was doing the heimlich and she turned and tried to ask him but he still just kept screaming the same thing over and over. One time he yelled "Tell them to quit asking f***ing questions and hurry up!!" I told the mom several times that they were on their way with lights and sirens, running red lights, coming as fast as they could, and would be there soon. In the meantime let me try and help you help him. Well that convinced her and she tried to tell the same to the gooberhead in the background, but he just wouldnt quit freaking out. But just before fire fighters arrived he somehow managed to get the guy to cough it up. I'm thinking that was a miracle.
I'm bettin tomorrow this guy's gonna be going around bragging about how he saved his brother's life, but if I were there, I'd love to take him down a notch or two. By freaking out like that, you only cause more problems then you solve.
Sad thing is, this happens alot. And it's one of the worst things we deal with. So many times, people have called 911 and will say just send someone NOW! and then hang up. We don't know if someone's hurt, if somebody has a gun, we won't know who the victim is and who the aggressor is. Many times a victim has managed to turn the tables on their attacker, but when officers get there, they may think that the victim is actually the one who needs to be arrested, because no one told them anything.
Another thing is we don't have transporter technology quite yet, so if we go somewhere, we have to do it the old fashioned way and drive. During that drive, we can continuously feed info to and update the cops or firefighters en route. There's plenty of opportunity to get more info and even give instructions that can save lives. I could have easily walked this guy through the heimlich but he was too busy freaking out and behaving like an idiot to listen and start helping the poor guy out.
So I guess today's post is a sermon, but the lesson to be learned is: If you call 911 during an emergency, keep your cool and answer their questions. They arent asking because they are bored and curious. They are asking for the people on the way who want to know whats going on before they get there.
In today's call, a man in his 30's was eating and got some food stuck in his throat blocking his airway. He had his brother there during this call. Unfortunately, brother was freakin out. The mom is the one who made the 911 call and was actually somewhat calm. I was trying to find out if the brother knew how to do the heimlich. So as I was talking to the mom, the brother was screaming at the top of his lungs in the background, "Just tell them to hurry up!!!" He kept screaming this literally about every 3 or 4 seconds. I asked the mom if he was doing the heimlich and she turned and tried to ask him but he still just kept screaming the same thing over and over. One time he yelled "Tell them to quit asking f***ing questions and hurry up!!" I told the mom several times that they were on their way with lights and sirens, running red lights, coming as fast as they could, and would be there soon. In the meantime let me try and help you help him. Well that convinced her and she tried to tell the same to the gooberhead in the background, but he just wouldnt quit freaking out. But just before fire fighters arrived he somehow managed to get the guy to cough it up. I'm thinking that was a miracle.
I'm bettin tomorrow this guy's gonna be going around bragging about how he saved his brother's life, but if I were there, I'd love to take him down a notch or two. By freaking out like that, you only cause more problems then you solve.
Sad thing is, this happens alot. And it's one of the worst things we deal with. So many times, people have called 911 and will say just send someone NOW! and then hang up. We don't know if someone's hurt, if somebody has a gun, we won't know who the victim is and who the aggressor is. Many times a victim has managed to turn the tables on their attacker, but when officers get there, they may think that the victim is actually the one who needs to be arrested, because no one told them anything.
Another thing is we don't have transporter technology quite yet, so if we go somewhere, we have to do it the old fashioned way and drive. During that drive, we can continuously feed info to and update the cops or firefighters en route. There's plenty of opportunity to get more info and even give instructions that can save lives. I could have easily walked this guy through the heimlich but he was too busy freaking out and behaving like an idiot to listen and start helping the poor guy out.
So I guess today's post is a sermon, but the lesson to be learned is: If you call 911 during an emergency, keep your cool and answer their questions. They arent asking because they are bored and curious. They are asking for the people on the way who want to know whats going on before they get there.
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