A Public Service Announcement of sorts

When you get something in your mind, do you easily let go of it? I don't. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing - both I would assume. For instance, one day I was talking to my sister and she was ordering some chicken nachos at Taco John's. That sounded really good to me at the time. Every meal that I consumed I thought, "I really wish this were chicken nachos from Taco John's". Finally came the day when the chicken nachos fit into my schedule. I ate them, I enjoyed them, I was finally over them. Are you like this too? I do this all the stinkin' time and it drives me crazy.

Amber posted the other day about 'her norm'. Her post was pointing out the things that were normal to her, but abnormal to others. It was a great post and fun to read. I like learning things about my new friends. ;) Anyway, since that day I haven't been able to get this topic out of my head. Please allow me to do so now so I can move on. Thank you.

Amber said that she doesn't have a land line and has never had one as long as she and her husband have been together. My sister is in the same boat. She has a cell phone, but not a land line. While, economically I think this is the great idea, when it comes to safety it scares me to death.

When was the last time you bought a cellular phone? Was it in the last few years? If you have, then the sales person quite possibly told you about the feature on your cell phone that will 'tell emergency personnel where you are if you are stranded or unable to speak'. That's not a very accurate statement. My guess is that the person that sold you your phone, on commission no less, really could care less if you're found when you call 911 after turning your vehicle upside down in the ditch. They've long profited from your purchase and your now just a part of that big pay check last July.

Let me show you a part of my job that you'd normally never see. This information was generated with my cell phone. This first picture is what I, as the dispatcher, see when you call here on a non emergency number. (I blacked out some of the things. I don't need everyone on the web to have my cell number. We obviously get the full information.)

I get the phone number, the time of call, date, and the name of the person the phone is listed to. That's what I get when you call the non emergency number. Now, let me show you what I get when you call 911 using your cell phone.Ok, it's obviously a little more complex than the first picture. Most of this won't make sense to you, but it does to me and my fellow co-workers. If you look through all the numbers here, you'll see CALLBK=(605)480-52**. That's the number that is listed to the phone that called. That's my cell phone number. Now, my cell phone is capable and set to show my location when I call 911. Here is where the misconception comes in. Just because your cell phone is capable of giving the satellite the information does not mean that the satellite is capable of receiving the information. I used my cell phone from my office which happens to be in the basement. The satellite isn't able to make a connection to get my correct location. Look hard - there is no address. You might notice that there is Longitude and Latitude, but if you mapped it out, you would find yourself at a cell phone tower. Maybe you're thinking 'well that's ok that it didn't map in a basement, as long as I'm in my house I should be ok'. Well, you might be, however, I got a call a couple of winters ago and the guy had no idea where he was. Lucky for him, so he thought, he had a hand held GPS system with him. You know what I'm talking about, right?Yeah, one of these. Ok, so I was on the phone with this guy and he had to stick his hand out the window to get a reading because it wouldn't work from inside his vehicle. Crazy, right? Just because you're using your cell from your house doesn't mean that we'll get the information that we need to come and help you. We might not even be able to get a reading from your phone if your under your favorite shade tree in your front yard. Get what I'm saying?

Now, if you're able to speak and give me your address or the location that you're at then everything will go much more smoothly. However, that isn't always the case. I once had someone who had to know CPR for their job call for an ambulance. The person they were calling for was unresponsive and needed CPR. When I asked the caller if she was able to start CPR, she told me that she didn't know CPR. I knew that wasn't the case, but also realized that she was in shock and I needed to get help there immediately.

Your brain does silly things when you're in shock. Have you ever been part of an emergency? Have you ever seen an accident or maybe been a part of it? Your brain quickly takes over to take care of you, not always letting the bad things in (ie: trauma of the situation). Maybe you were present when a bank was robbed, Aisha, and you had no idea this was happening. Or maybe you did and you told the police it was a very thin man, wearing a red shirt, holding a gun when in reality it was a very thin man, wearing a black coat, holding a knife. Your brain does some crazy things when you have adrenalin rushing through your body.

Lets take a look at what information comes to our 911 center when you call from a land line.We get the phone number, address - everything that we'd need to send help. If someone called 911 and hung up, we'd still know where to send an officer if we suspected something was wrong. If you call 911 and we don't make contact with you, we send an officer to make sure everything is ok. If you call 911 from your cell phone, not so much. We call your number back, usually get your voice mail, leave a message and hope you're ok.

I'm not saying that it's wrong to only have a cell phone. I just wanted to open your eyes to my world and the way I see it.

Whew - done with that one. Next!