In my work, one of the transcription/translations I am most often called upon to do is that of 911 calls. One of the things that will make a case in the U.S. a federal case as opposed to a local one is if there is a carjacking involved somewhere in the commission of the crime, so carjacking 911 calls are bread and butter to me. What I wish is that the people taking the calls, the 911 ops, would be trained to tell the caller that the patrol car or ambulance is already in route while they are taking the rest of the information. It almost never happens, and usually only after the person is so freaked out and panicky at what seems a meaningless barrage of questions. It would be so much better if (once the location is known) the op would say something like, "The patrol/ambulance is already on it's way. Every answer you give me is being passed directly to them, via computer, so that they have everything when they get to you. I have more questions for you so that we have as much information as possible to help you once they arrive." I'm sure there is some reason behind why they don't say this, I'm sure. It can't just be random, but I hear it so often that I am left to wonder if whatever that reason is is sufficiently compelling as to leave this sometimes frightening (to the caller) communication problem un-remedied. It would be nice if they would make a P.S.A. about this so that when people need to make 911 calls, they know that there is reason for all of this.
I doubt if a PSA would help much. People tend to ignore those, and the intersection of the sets of people who heard/listened to a PSA and those who make a 911 call is probably small. I agree that a change in procedure/script would be a great idea. If it is possible to calm the caller down early, the transfer of additional information should be faster and more coherent as well. So would communicating lifesaving or other actions to the caller o take while the responders are en route. 911 procedures are, of course, always under review. There should be a clearinghouse for feedback on 911 calls - I don't know what it would be, not having searched it. Perhaps you can find an advocate among your local responders if you discuss it with them as you have raised it here. It makes good sense from my perspective.
I wonder if it's a local issue, Wrey. Are these transcripts all from PR? Many dispatch operators do tell people police or EMS are on the way.
Yeah, these are all local PR 911 calls. Spanish caller, Spanish 911 op, so no interpreters in between or anything like that. And it sadly doesn't surprise me in the least that it be a local issue only. I mean, it seems like a no-brainer to me to have the op assure the caller that help is already en route, if only to help calm the call and get better data in order to help.
I was trained to call 9-1-1, give them your description and all the information they need and hang up. Questions from the operator like "What happened?" are irrelevant to the fact that you are holding a home invader at gunpoint. Anything you say, in your state of agitation might not sound so hot, to a jury.
But there are times the dispatcher needs you to stay on the line. They might be giving the police real time information that can be useful.
Oh, the dispatcher *always* wants you to stay on the line. That's not necessarily good for you though
I teach the NRA course that leads to a Michigan Concealed Pistols License and we deviate from the course material a little and recommend that after you provide the necessary information, you leave the telephone connection to 911 open and set the phone down so that the operator can still hear what's going on and you have your hands and attention free.
