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I was taught in school (elementary or secondary school, I forget) how to make an emergency call. We were taught a recommended recipe: Who, where, what. You tel

I was taught in school (elementary or secondary school, I forget) how to make an emergency call. We were taught a recommended recipe: Who, where, what. You tell them who you are, where you're located, then what the problem is. The responder can then start asking questions to get the details they need to classify the category and urgency of the emergency. It's really something that should be widely taught.

avhon1 7y ago
The only time I've ever called 911 emergency services, the operator opened with "9-1-1, where's your emergency?" They apparently do this first so that, if the call gets cut off, they can send somebody to the scene to render aid and find out what the situation is.
spookthesunset 7y ago
I’ve always thought answering the “where” part is more important. Especially with cell phones where they probably don't have a clue where you are. At least that way if the call got dropped or something they’d know where to direct some kind of help. I could be wrong. In the several times I’ve called 911 in an urban area the dispatcher I get is most interested in where to route the call. If medical or fire, they transfer to fire and for everything else they transfer to police. It is almost like they serve as a quick triage and then route to the appropriate place. Once the actual dispatcher answers they ask a bunch of questions. They waste very little time and can almost seem rude or impolite as they don’t really let you deviate from the “script” but I assume it is because they need to gather the most info in the shortest amount of time. Thankfully I’ve never had to call with something that requires both medial and police (eg shooting, etc)....