6-year old calls 911; dispatcher thinks it's a joke

As the mayor of detroit, make the punishment of 911 prank phone calling, to be sent to Guantanamo. Or you know... increase the fine.

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Originally Posted by soniclover

2.The kid called and wasn't even panicking

Where does it say that?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I think he meant..pranking?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Did you watch the Video on the link? When he first called, he wasn't "panicky"

I was speaking idiomatically.

The kid is 6-years old. He has no idea what's going on, he was probably worried, but probably not enough to start panicking like crazy.

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I know, I know. But it still had the potential of being a prank phone call or not very important because he wasn't panicking.

Think of both sides. She most likely has to go through fake phone calls every day. Think of what she has to go through. If it was a fake phone call it would have wasted time that could have been used to save someone in real danger.

I'm not going to condem her and not think of what she has to go through.

How ya doing, buddy?

It's actually best not to panic in these conditions. When you panic, it becomes extremely difficult to communicate. You also become a greater danger to yourself and those around you.

Concerning the article, I feel sorry for the kid. Honestly, concerning the statements about, "The kid didn't even sound panicked!" - So? Does that make it his fault? He didn't know what was happening. All he knew was what his Mother told him: call 9-11 in case of an emergency.

Is the dispatcher at fault? Yes. According to the article, because of her experience, she won't be fired. I understand that pranksters constantly hound 9-11 operators, but after years of experience, you tend to be able to distinguish reality from fiction.

But accidents happen. I don't think she should be fired or sued for everything she is worth. She is suffering right now. That doesn't mean she wasn't at fault and should face justice; the truth is, it was an accident that'll haunt her mind for the rest of her life.

Cut her some slack. She's going through the worst punishment of all.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Tomzilla

It's actually best not to panic in these conditions. When you panic, it becomes extremely difficult to communicate. You also become a greater danger to yourself and those around you.

Let me get this straight with everyone.

I know it's not good to panick in the situation but I was just saying, not panicking gives a better chance for it to be a prank phone call.

I still understand what the women had to go through and I feel sorry for the boy.

How ya doing, buddy?

A shame for all parties- I agree that if she believed it to have been a prank then at the time she made the right call based on her judgment/experience- of course being wrong is what she has to live with.

How ya doing, buddy?

Ugh...tragedic
This kind of thing makes me wish that they had some sort of system that could instantly track the number of whoever called 911, and provide further at-a-glance info (eg. family status and age distribution).

How ya doing, buddy?

Uh, how exactly would that lesson the probability of a prank phone call?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Geez, that's awful. Everyone loses in this situation

I wonder what's going to happen to both the child and operator. The operator probably has to make decisions like these every day, so I'd imagine that it'll be difficult to "pick and choose."

What I'm a bit confused about is how the little boy got the same operator twice. I'm not familar with the 911 system, but how did he manage to do that?

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I wonder how they are going to "discipline" the operator. Having doubts about a call from a 6-year-old kid is acceptable but at 6 years of age I don't think kids that young can even grasp the idea of a prank call. This incident reminds me of my own city's policy towards alarms where the police won't respond to just an alarm, someone has to call in reporting an incident at the site of the alarm for the police to respond.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I live in Detroit...while tragic, I'm not sure this is something to pursue in courts...if so, the money from the court decision should go to the boy's continued care and proper training of operators and/or the dead woman's favorite charity....not to the greedy family members and the lawyer I saw on the news spot.

FELIPE NO

It's sad that this happened. Now that child will not have his mother anymore.... but after reading some of the posts here, I realize that it is true that people are assholes and prank and don't realize that 911 is for emergencies....Too dumb to use a phone book and look up the numbers for less important things, I guess....

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by soniclover

Did you watch the Video on the link?

Oh, I didn't notice the video. =P

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I pretty much ignored anyone siding or semi-siding with this female operator.


Where I come from, Regardless of whether its a prank or not, Police WILL show up. If it is a prank, they'll discpline you accordingly in person.

I feel bad for this little boy, He didn't know what was going on. The lady on the other line sounds like a total bitch. It's not a matter of her being stressed on the job from other prank calls, if someone says they need help: You help them anyway. If it is a prank, you send the police there anyway.

The operator was wrong. She wasn't doing her job properly. I don't care one way or the other, that's plain wrong.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

It's just like that here Devo. I went to dial 611 I think it was and hit the 9 by accident on my cellphone. Police showed up no more than 10 minutes later. I don't know where you're from honestly, but I suppose in more quiet/expensive suburban areas like Long Island (where I live), police don't have as much work as they would in a bigger (and I say this without knowing first hand but I get this impression) crime filled city like Detroit.


I still say though, The lady shouldn't have been that rude. She just had an attitude. She could've at least handed the phone over to someone else, she comes off increibly bitchy for someone who's job is to try to calm people down and let them know help is on the way.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

It's this simple.

You lose more by not taking the call seriously, than taking it seriously and sending out help to a prank.

If it's a prank call, then so be it. They can immediately go back to their stations, but if it's not taken seriously, then someone can lose their life. As they did here.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

They shouldn't even ask to elaborate. The kid is 6 and problem was nervous and at a loss for words.

You send out help IMMEDIATELY, and if it's a prank, then big deal. They go right back to their stations.

There is so little to lose, by going out just to make sure, and so much to lose by not taking the call seriously.

The woman should quit her job. If I made a mistake that big, then I'd quit. It's a dissevice not to.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I agree with what you both are saying. 100 Percent.

As far as I see it, there's no reason not to send someone out.

I know it's not the coolest thing to do to judge someone but judging by this ladies attitude and tone in the call, she isn't out to help people really. This is just a job for her. In her case, I would be worried about plain losing my job or money, which will ultimately happen to her or whatever branch operates that line so I would send out a dispatcher anyway.

There's no right in what she did and how she handled the situation. I'm suprised she isn't fired just because of her seniority. I'm more suprised she made it to a point where she has seniority with an attitude like hers.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

That's true, but in life/death situations, every second is invaluable. You need a help team there ASAP. You can't even waste a second of time.

If a person needs to be revived, there is a small window of time before they can't be brought back.

How ya doing, buddy?

Well, let's just hope that if people hear about this and have done prank calls to 911 in the past, that they refrain from doing so in the future. Parents hearing about this could also try to put more emphasis in telling their kids that 911 is an important tool and is not to be fooled around with. Maybe it's a little too optimistic to expect that, but who knows.

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Originally Posted by DragoonKain

You send out help IMMEDIATELY, and if it's a prank, then big deal. They go right back to their stations.

There is so little to lose, by going out just to make sure, and so much to lose by not taking the call seriously.

Very True! Though i can understand how it can be a big deal if officers waste
time checking out a prank call.. I still believe it's better to check regardless.
It was stated earlier that they can't have police going out to investigate calls
because they might be pranks and it'll waste time from checking out REAL calls...
This sounds like maybe there's a lack of police there then... Couldn't this be
fixed with more officers on the job?

Personally, i called 911 once when someone tried to attack us and break out
windows while at work. I was pretty panicked and the operator told me
to CALM DOWN and explain to her the situation so should could understand it.

I feel so sorry for the child... The relatives must be restless right now..

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Geez..
That's horrible.. These are the people that regardless if it's a joke or not, send out help because.. On TV. They tell the kids, "If you need help, dial 911" who else is he gonna call?

AT the same time, there was a recent study done, that many people are using 911 services for the most rediculous reasons.. One guy wanted to know the directions to get to his desired destination!

So in retrospect.. It's awful what happend, the lady should be fired, but knowing she could possibly be the reason why a life wasn't saved .. that's a lot to carry.


She sholdn't be fired.. Come to think of it, if an incident like this were to happen again, I doubt she would even consider it a joke at all and send out help.

.dc

There's nowhere I can't reach.