5 Horrifying Tales Of 911 Incompetence
We all laugh when some nutjob calls 911 because McDonald's ran out of McNuggets. But the world is full of crazy people, they all own phones and 911 is the one number they all know. We shouldn't be surprised.
No, the horror stories happen when regular folk in an emergency call 911 and find the craziness happening at the other end of the line. For instance. . .
#5.
Nashville Operator Doesn't Give a Shit
People have been known to call 911 for some pretty stupid reasons: keys locked in the car, slow traffic, loud fireworks, knife wielding ex-boyfriends breaking in the house threatening to kill them. Whoa! That last one doesn't seem to fit the description at all! But when Sheila Jones called 911 in Nashville to report that very thing, the response she received was akin to what one might expect if calling an emergency line to report an ingrown toenail.
After her first call went unanswered, Jones called back and got fantastic news. Officers had been dispatched, but another more important call came in, so they answered that first.
What could be more important than a potential stabbing? A traffic stop, of course! A traffic stop that, in the interest of maintaining our faith in humanity, we will assume was of the GTA IV variety, involving multiple gunshots and at least one person that had burst into flames.
But the shenanigans don't stop there. Jones made a third call after more than two freaking hours had passed with no sign of help. After the call ended--but with tape still rolling--we hear the last damned thing you want to hear when you call 911..."I really just don't give a shit what happens to you."
Nice.
So, What Happened?
Fortunately, Jones's boyfriend never did get around to actually killing her, presumably because even he started feeling sorry for her after the police failed to show. She did eventually get police to respond to her call, but only after contacting the fucking mayor's office.
When a local news affiliate got wind of the story, they investigated and uncovered the not a shit giving 911 operator's antics. He was immediately fired. At least we hope it was immediate, but don't count on it.
#4.
Memphis 911 Operator Falls Asleep on the Job
As anyone who has ever worked a customer service gig can attest, the general public is, for the most part, pretty damn boring. Sure, you get calls from the occasional basket case who threatens to end your shit with a chainsaw unless you reverse that $5 late fee, but mostly it's just mundane questions about things you don't care about. You would think this would not be the case for, say, a 911 operator. The constant stream of calls about gunshots, robberies and out of control chimpanzee attacks would be enough to keep anyone on their toes, right?
We use this pic whenever we can.
Apparently, it is not, as evidenced by a Memphis woman's experience when she called 911 to report that someone was tapping on her window:
Things begin with the woman explaining her situation to the 911 operator. The above news report then devolves into what looks like an infomercial for shitty emergency responder service.
If you call today, we'll ignore your plea for help for 15 full seconds, responding only with dead silence!
But we're not stopping there! Act right away, and we won't just double it...
Nope! If you call 911 today, we'll pass right the Hell out for one full minute!
If you listen close, you can actually hear dude snoring on the phone. He eventually wakes up and gets down to business by asking for the woman's address. The address she had already given him before he passed out.
So, What Happened?
After months of badgering by a Memphis reporter, an investigation into the call was finally launched. The operator on duty was suspended for seven days. That oughta show him! His supervisor was suspended for 20 days, because when you fall asleep at your job, it's totally your boss's fault.
As for the caller, she eventually got help, and we quote, "when she called another 911 agency." What? Like who, the A-Team? Spencer for Hire? Seriously, we're asking.
#3.
Michigan 911 Operator Does Not Take Kindly to F-Bombs
People react to stress in various ways. Some people overeat, some people get throw-up drunk and some people curse like sailors when their 911 calls aren't answered in a timely manner. Understandable reactions, all of them, but be advised, depending on who answers your distress call, dropping the occasional f-bomb could have unintended consequences. Adrianne Ledesma of Lincoln Park, Michigan learned this lesson the hard way.
We're not quite sure where Lincoln Park is, but as this news story detailing her encounter with an easily offended 911 operator points out, residents there make over 14,000 911 calls each year. Based on those numbers, we're going to take a wild guess and say it's somewhere near Detroit.
Google Maps thinks so too!
In light of that, it's no surprise that when Adrianne Ledesma called 911, it took a few rings before someone was able to answer. After calling once and getting no answer, she hung up and called again. This time, it once again rang several times before anyone answered. Understandably frustrated, Ledesma blurted out "what the fuck?!" as the phone was ringing.
Because 911 calls begin recording before they are even answered, somehow, the operator on the other end heard the foul language. When Ledesma advised that she needed an ambulance and gave her address, the operator got right to the important business at hand: scolding the girl for cursing.
The teen responded to this ill-timed lecture the same way most any of us would.
Having apparently never been subjected to such unseemly behavior in his life, the 20-year veteran of the Lincoln Park Police Department on the other end of the call got things back on a more professional course by hanging up on the caller.
We're not emergency response professionals, but we maybe would have asked what the problem was before disconnecting the call. In case you're curious, the girl's father was on the floor having a seizure.
But the fun didn't stop there. After the teen called back, the officer continued on the moral highroad by asking if she was going to swear again before adding a nice pot-calling-the-kettle-black moment when he called her "a stupid ass."
Classy!
Again, so taken back at the thought of a frantic teen having the audacity to curse, the officer still didn't ask what she was calling about and disconnected the call. This display of pointless bickering even continued through a third call in which the officer called her "a buffoon." It should go without saying that she was hung up on that time also.
So, What Happened?
There's good news and there is bad news. On the bright side, Officer Friendly finally did put in the call for help, although he was still unable to tell them exactly what they were being dispatched for. In keeping with his FCC like devotion to family friendly emergencies, he made sure to bring up the cursing when putting in the call.
Also, the father lived. As for the bad news, after her trifecta of failed attempts at summoning help for her ailing father, Adrianne Ledesma drove to the police station. Naturally, she was especially irate by this point. Because his douchebag meter goes well past 11, the officer she had been talking to came out and asked if she was the foul-mouthed girl he had been speaking to. When she acknowledged that she was, he immediately arrested her and charged her with "abusing 911," a charge that, according to the news story, doesn't actually exist.
The officer got off with a two-week unpaid suspension and "training." To whomever is in charge of his training, yeah, good luck with that.
I've had my own experience with 911 operators. Needless to say, I currently have a Mossberg shotgun.
ReplyAnyone else think the last one was pretty unworthy of this list? The lady was an idiot, and the operator just seemed like a poor guy dealing with an idiot lady.
Wow. What a big f*****g surprise. I couldn't help but notice that all of the 911 operators were men.
ReplyThere are more than 5 911 operators in America.
is there a point to that utterly retarded comment?
I used to live in an apartment complex and one night my friends and I were sitting around in the living room when this lady runs up to our window screaming "Help me! He's gonna f*****g kill me!" and before we could even react this huge m**********r steps out of the darkness(the street light in front of our apartment was burnt out) and grabs her from behind and drags her off. We all flipped s**t and I called 911, it took them two hours to show up after multiple calls telling them how urgent the situation was. By then the guy had thrown her in the back of his car and drove off.
ReplyWe found out that the cops caught up later and found her tied and beaten in the back of his car. Luckily she was still alive, but f**k man...
These are all funny because they didn't happen to me.
ReplySince I work for 911, I feel obligated to point out the following:
Reply1. Yes, these examples are bad. Yes, likely there are other examples. However, 911 centers take hundreds of thousands of calls each day, so statistically the profession does fairly well. Especially considering that:
2. You take calls with people acting at their worst, all day, every day. Every moment of your shift is full of screaming, stressed out, injured, drunk, mentally ill, pissed off, suicidal, and otherwise difficult to control callers. This is compounded by the fact 911 is treated like the red headed stepchild of other facets of the EMS system. Unlike police and fire, we don't get a lot of training, recognition or respect for what we do. Heck, some centers basically pay minimum wage and training is completely informal.
Also, keep in mind 99 percent of the time, we can't 'make' the police go anywhere. They respond when they want to respond. If I have officers going to a suspicious hangup, and they decide they want to make a traffic stop, they make a traffic stop. I am not the boss of them. Also, I think most people don't have any idea how few officers work at any one time. For example, one of our cities has a population of around 100k. At night there are typically 10 officers and a sergeant working. This sounds impressive, I guess, until you realize that even a simple verbal domestic requires two officers to respond. In this case, only 5 arguing couples can deplete the city of resources. Fire will go as soon as the call comes in, but will not typically enter a scene that is not considered 'secure' without police going in first.
All in all, it is a wonder you don't see more of these stories. People snap under extreme pressure, and working 911 is one of the worst. If you want to help, when you see legislation for requiring standards for 911 training and equipment, vote for it.
though im ashamed to admit it...
"we can't 'make' the police go anywhere"
such an obvious statement still blew my mind O_o
Other 911 sources:
Reply411, locally, is the number you call to get a hold of campus police. 211 is for traffic information. All stations have civil numbers to call when it's not as much of an emergency as 911 would require. Also, some dispatches have more than 1 receptionist location for 911, and if you're straddling 2 jurisdictions, you might get shunted to one or the other.
When my mother-in-law's cat managed to dial 911 while playing with the phone, cops were immediately dispatched to investigate. I guess batting the phone around and purring into the receiver may be the way to get taken seriously.
ReplyI'm sorry...but if you can't handle a teenage girl cursing at you...I think you're in the wrong profession. You're supposed to keep your cool in like, gun fights and whatnot. What if that man had DIED? While you were busy riding around on your high horse?!
ReplyMy roommate and I once called 911 because our neighbors (in Philly) were having a screaming argument that involved a baby crying, things smashing and breaking, and shouting shouting shouting. The police came a full FOUR hours later. The fight was over by then (thankfully nothing apparently happened). I asked the police why it had taken so long. They said, basically, if you want someone to come RIGHT AWAY, say you heard a scream. That's it. NO details. Just, "Someone screamed and it stopped."
ReplyIt's like going to the ER. They prioritize so you can say "I have stomach pain" and wait 4 hours or say "I have chest pain" and be taken right in 30 seconds later. What you say triggers possibilities in the emergency worker that they feel may be more urgent (heart attack, ongoing murder...you know that kind of thing).
Its a combination of factors. For one as Ashleigh points out they prioritize. In a city as large as phildelphia think about the number of calls they get. Out of that th8nk of how many are complete h0rsesh!!t (ie the lady who called 911 because a fast food joint wouldn't prepare a burger to her demands), from mentally ill individuals or people making something up to get a neighbor they don't like in trouble. Add to that that no police office likes going into a domestic violence situation and that if their smart (yes smart domestic violence is ridiculously dagnerous you can't know who's going to shoot, stab or punch you even the victim) they are going to wait for back up. It sucks when you have a legitimate situation that needs faster attention but when you consider how many other in Phily probably had something at least as serious happeneing...
Sad. A girl in Madison, WI in 2008 called 911 and got disconnected. The dispatcher did not try to call her back and didn't send a police unit to check it out. She was murdered by an intruder. Sad that this stuff happens.
ReplyThis just pissed me off.
Reply#3 - Extremely unprofessional behavior. The guy's acting like a total overly-sensitive douchebag who hasn't even heard of teenagers cussing. And he calls her a 'buffoon'? What the f**k kind of insult is that? There are school counselors who hear worse s**t than that practically every three minutes, and none of them suddenly halt the session until the kid apologizes or whatever.
ReplyIf that guy is so damn sensitive to profanity, maybe he should grow a pair and get over his own issues.
#1 - If you live in Texas, you are likely to hear those kind of jokes. Personal experience on my part. I understand that offering to shoot the kid was unprofessional, but come on - it's a joke. A bad one, but a joke nonetheless.
I agree with both sentiments. #1 was kind of a pathetic call and NOT and emergency. That woman is exactly the reason 911 operators get so frustrated. "oh my kid is out of control" so what! Be a mom and STFU don't call 911. But that douchebag who hung up on the cursing girl ought to be shot. And they arrested her? WTF!
#1 is actually how my dad got me and my sister to solve our own problems and not constantly tattle on each other and basically otherwise just annoy him- anytime I would say something like "Dad, Kat did xyz," he would respond with "ok, do you want me to stab her? *brandish kitchen knife*" Sure as hell shut me up.
ReplyGood one, I'll be trying that one out on my kids.
Kinda similar for me and my brother. When we would get into fights my dad would set us on opposite ends of the fence with paintball guns and have us fire at each other until we were ready to drop the argument.
The sleeping one is bad, but it happens more often than you'd think. A lot of emergency services people, especially EMS and dispatch, work 24 or even 48 hour shifts and the dispatchers can't always sleep between calls like us EMS folk can.
ReplyThese operators are negligent, but none of the situations count as horrific. And to be honest the level of negligence is backwards as well.
ReplyYou're only saying that because none of these people died.
Idiot.
what's wrong with the last guy? he was actually kinda funny and not a complete retard like the other 4. He even said it was a joke. U can't blame him for not taking the woman seriously, I mean, her call is just stupid
ReplyIn an emergency situation the people you're going to for help are supposed to be professional, not make awkward jokes.
An 'emergency situation'? Really? It was a woman calling 911 because her TWELVE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER was "out of control."
Important life lesson, Tamina: calling 911 over an issue does not automatically make it an emergency. The dispatcher was making a sarcastic suggestion for a situation that was clearly not supposed to be addressed to a Texas police department. Unless the kid's got a knife, sort it out yourself. Or better yet, get the damn father to do it. Or is this family so dysfunctional that a 12 year old girl can outwill AND outmuscle both her adult parents?
I kind of want to kill the operator of #3. He calls her a stupid ass and a buffoon, and arrests her because she swore over 911 when her dad was seizing.
ReplyAll the while it's HIS fault for being an asshat and hanging up on her, if someone swore over 911 when I was taking calls I world have assumed something serious.
He should have been fired
If that Texas woman was as stern with her teen as much as she was with 911 operator, perhaps she would not have had the need to call 911 in the first place.
ReplyI'm surprised Charla Nash's story isn't on here. She was the woman that got beaten up by the chimp and went on Oprah. Anyways, her "friend" (who was her boss and threatened her to be fired if she didn't come and help with the already irate 200 pound chimp, and last I heard said it wasn't her fault and refused to pay restitution)was screaming at 911 saying "Help! The monkey's ripping her apart! He's EATING her!", and the guy just sits there for at least five minutes going "He's eating her? The monkey? He's eating her?". She kept screaming "Hurry, send someone! He's tearing off her face!" and it took him what seems like 30 minutes to get anyone out there to help them. I can see where he thought it was a prank- until you hear monkey screams in the background. It was absolutely astonishing to me that he just sat there like that. I feel like the situation wouldn't have turned out so bad for Charla if that guy had gotten off his ass (well, you know what I mean) and just sent some dang cops in the first place, because the monkey wound up having to be killed anyways.
ReplyI feel really bad for pointing this out but I have an interest in primates and chimpanzees aren't monkeys.
KnotworkOrange in his 911 booth: "So maam, you're saying a monkey is ripping off your face? Do you know the taxonomic difference between monkeys and other primates? How do I know that you're not actually getting your faced ripped off by a lemur? Call me back when you can exactly describe the animal that is ripping off your face, stupid bitch"
The fact that the operator in number one wasn't fired seems indicative of the lack of gravity of that woman's situation. Her shift in tone and attention when she scolded the operator doesn't really give any sense of an overriding emergency.
Reply2 minutes later...
Googled it...
apparently the mom came home to her kids fighting- and the 12yo had kicked a hole in the wall. According to the article she feared for their safety, not her own (Though this info is conspicuously absent from what little we heard in the not so urgent sounding call).. Considering there were no sounds of commotion in the background I'm guessing the fight was already over and had ended with a good wall kicking.
Enjoyed the bulk of the article but it kind of irks me that we were presented with an essentially fictionalized account of #1 by the author.