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ORIGINAL: DesFIP

Emergency call operators are as susceptible to pressures as the rest of us. When there are too many calls for a person to handle, when they are worried about losing their jobs because of the economy, when their kids can't afford to go to college, their spouses run off etc they are as likely to react badly to the stress as everyone else does.

Does that mean what they do is right? Certainly not. What it does mean is that if you want them able to handle things properly they need good training, not to be overloaded with calls, and to have access to good help when needed.

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People who go in to the typical "high stress" jobs such as the police force and the medical field, know right from the beginning what is in store.

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ORIGINAL: sirsholly

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People who go in to the typical "high stress" jobs such as the police force and the medical field, know right from the beginning what is in store.

well yanno...i have to dispute this. I am a former nurse. Former because it got to be dangerous. When i was in nursing school we were shown a clinical rotation that was nothing like the real world. The reality was too many patients, not nearly enough staff and waaay to much room for errors to be made. The stress was overwhelming at times and i was short tempered and probably rude (true story, i was responding to a code and a patients family member started  to run down the hall beside me, bitching that the patient did not get any ketchup on their dinner tray. I wanted to strangle them with my stethoscope and while i do not recall my response, i can bet it was rude.)

I am not saying the operator was justified in his response, but the stress level can explode unexpectedly. While he was way out of line, perhaps it is a wake-up call that staffing is too short, hours are too long and counseling should always be available.

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ORIGINAL: Toppingfrmbottom

reminds me if the case where a little kid called in for 911 cause his mom was in distress and the women told him stop playing on th ephone and told the kid he'd be arrested and s hit, and I do believe mom died while waiting for help. I don't remember the whole story.

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ORIGINAL: SoulPiercer


The mother did die. It was in Detroit. The city was sued. The operator was fired and as of this month she was rehired based on the decision of an arbitrator.

I'm the E911 administrator for the company I work for. One of the issues I deal with on a regular basis is customers who say the police/fire department showed up at their door in the middle of the night claiming a 911 call came from their home. The customer of course says they never made the call and in every single case, when I pull their phone records .. they are correct. There was no call to 911 dialed from their home.

Having investigated these issues and having dealt with 911 call center personnel who take a great deal of pride in what they do, I've been told be several people, in various cities (off the record), that the problem is the software, but not everyone is aware that the problem exsists.  As a result 911 operators around the country often treat legit calls as pranks, which is wrong.

The glitch is: dialing the combination of 9-1-1 in any phone number could trigger a call to the PSAP (public safety answering point). For example, if you dial 459-1137, a call could go to the 911 center. The 911 operator will see your phone number and address, but the line will be dead. They will send police/fire to your home, you deny making the call and it gets logged as a possible prank call. So, after dealing with a few of these calls, when they take call and a child is on the line, some operators react the same way the operator in Detroit did. Again .. it's wrong.

In this particular case, this officers actions are very disturbing. Especially since he's acting as if he did nothing wrong. He could have done himself a huge favor if he had simply said .. "I handled that badly and I apologize." I'd say they should take him off the 911 desk, however, I'm not so sure I want this guy out on the street with a loaded weapon.

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either that or they figure you wouldnt be able to handle the stress, Arpig....*grin*