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Comment by rurcliped | Hacker News Reader

I think PSAPs should release a list of the most common questions they ask 911 callers. My kids basically know how and when to call 911, but they definitely aren't trained on the best answer to the "is this a house or an apartment" question cited in this BBC story. (In our case, the relevant answer is "house" even though our mailing address includes an apartment number.) Maybe I'd create a poster so they remember what to do under stress, e.g.,

DO tell the 911 operator that we live in a house, not an apartment

DO tell the 911 operator that we have five people in our family (omit the detail that our foster child isn't biologically related)

DO NOT tell the 911 operator that, technically, our fish are "pets"

DO NOT attempt to negotiate a Creative Commons license for the recording of the 911 call

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As part of a first aid course, we had a lesson on what to tell the local equivalent of 911, including the place, number of people affected, type of accident and so on (I've mostly forgotten since it was a decade ago). Also the course included practical exercises (I remember having one with simulated epilepsy), with simulated phone calls.

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.

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.

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)....

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