Things You Should Know Before Calling 911 for an Emergency

For a brief moment in time I was a 911 operator for the City of Fort Worth in Texas. I was told it would be the most stressful job I ever worked. I found that hard to believe seeing that I use to clean bathrooms for a living. Trust me, listening to people scream in the phone was a lot less stressful that cleaning up unmentionable body fluids after overgrown troglodytes with bad aim. And that was the WOMEN'S bathroom in a corporate building!!!

Anyway . . . my time as a 911 operator was very informative and gave me insight I feel obligated to share with the general public. Unless you are constantly ill or work in this environment, you have no idea what goes on in the communications center of your 911 offices.

First, it is a stressful job. Imagine picking up your phone and someone is yelling, "MY BABY IS TURNING BLUE!!!" That's all they say, then the line drops off. Now, your response may differ depending on your life experience. Are you a new mother; a grandmother of 15; a soon to be dad; single with no kids and only plants to care for? In the training mode of 911, we have to recognize; regardless of our social, economic, racial or religious status; our main goal is to get the public help for those intense moments.

"MY BABY IS TURNING BLUE!!!" and then the line drops . . . how do you handle that.

911 has a large amount of tools to help track down callers in these cases. If the person is calling from a house phone and that phone is registered with the phone company, your home information "should" show on a screen in front of the operator. That information will include whose name the phone is registered, your address and the phone number you're dialing from. If you're on a cell phone and you have service with a major provider, we will get that phone number and may be able to pin point your location using grid coordinates with help from your provider. If you are using a cell phone that has had service disconnected, you can still dial 911. UNDERSTAND if your call drops when using one of these phones, you must call 911 back. These phones rarely pinpoint your exact location. They will more than likely bounce from one tower to the next.