When to call 911?

[notalwaysright]

Okay, another thread regarding cell phone GPS location reminded me of this little story. This is all second hand from manager involved.

Woman comes in with a caregiver. Woman and caregiver have argument, caregiver leaves. Woman asks to use phone to call caregiver because caregiver drove her to our store. Caregiver apparently declines, telling her to walk home. Woman demands we call 911 to get the police to give her a ride home. She is offered the phone to call herself and declines. After asking if there is a medical (or other) emergency and being told no, manager looks up the number for dispatch, and calls the non-emergency number. Woman doesn't like waiting, and asks manager and other employees repeatedly "why is it taking so long?" After 20 minutes tops, police arrive and take her home. The entire time she seems to be walking and talking normally, no visible distress.

Question. If someone demands we call 911, are we obligated to? Should the manager have called the emergency line for the woman? In this case all ended well, but I wonder if someone has a full time caregiver, maybe they aren't capable of knowing if they are in urgent need of assistance? Maybe thinking that she "looks okay" is a huge mistake?

[cindybubbles]

You are not obligated to call 911, but if your gut tells you to do it, then do it. Better to be safe than sorry.

[Seshat]

I have called 000 and told the dispatcher that I wasn't sure if the situation warranted it, but <insert situation here>.

The dispatcher seemed to think that it was appropriate for me to call. Not necessarily because of the situation, but from the 'better to call and let them decide' POV.


Of course, my situation wasn't a 'they won't give me a free burger' sort of situation!


(If anyone cares: I heard screaming, and it wasn't a 'happy child' or a 'loud sex' type of sound, in my judgement.)

[Victory Sabre]

Police usually also have a non emergency number to call in situations that don't seem to fit calling 911.

[Buzzard]

The stupid crap - non-emergency number I keep on the wall somewhere
Blood, imminent serious harm, other time-critical medical, yeah, 911 (or 999 or whatever your country has)

"I wanna go home!" isn't life threatening. Call a cab.

[Gilhelmi]

If she had a caretaker, she must have had a disability of some sort. So it could be considered neglect.

IF that is the case, or I was unsure, I would call 911 to get her some help and file a legal complaint against the caretaker.

But, I could also see a situation where the 'caretaker' was an informal one; like for a friend or relative, who is partial disabled but not disabled enough to get a professional caretaker. Then I would call the non-emergency number.

Am I over-analyzing the situation again?

[Seshat]

There's a lack of people willing to be professional caretakers; and a lack of funding for disabled people or their families who are unable to pay for them.

[strawbabies]

That situation definitely is NOT worthy of a 911 call.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

If that's worthy of a 911 call, then so is getting the wrong item in your McDonalds order.

I would call the non-emergency number.

[kaherbert]

In your situation I would have called the non-emergency number and explain I had a case of abuse/neglect of an adult. Then I would have found the elder/adult abuse line and reported the abuse/neglect there also.

I keep the non-emergency number for several jurisdiction between my home and work programmed into my phone. But I've been told several times I should have called 911 instead.
1. Oversized load on a flat bed was part of a house (cut in 1/2). The siding and roof shingles were coming off.

2. We were under a burn ban and had several wild fires in the area. Something had fallen off another flat bed but was still attached. It was being dragged and sparks/flames were visible.

3. Children being used to panhandle in traffic. Frequently they were part of a sports team, and were walking in traffic at the intersection of 6 lane FM road and 6 lane State Highway. Speed limit 55 mph.

[eltf177]

Woman comes in with a caregiver. Woman and caregiver have argument, caregiver leaves.

I'd really like more information about this, there's something here I would need to know so I could make an informed decision.

If the Woman was being a horse's ass and the caregiver got tired of it then the Woman is on her own.

[notalwaysright]

If the Woman was being a horse's ass and the caregiver got tired of it then the Woman is on her own.

I talked to that manager again today. She guesses that the woman is extremely poor, based on how she shops. She could also be very cheap, but this is 100% speculation. Manager says she'll come to the register with an item which is say, $5.43 after tax, and say, "can I get this for $2.89." And ask for coupons or discounts to make it $2.89. If not, she'll ask if there is anything in the store which she can buy for $2.89. Not rude, just very persistent.

Also, since Manager has interacted with this person before, she was almost positive it wasn't an emergency, which is why she called the non-emergency line. I was just interested in what the general opinion was. To me, if someone wants me to call 911 and I don't see a reason I would let them use our phone to call.

Oh, and the argument was something about how the woman didn't like the caregiver following her around the store. So caregiver basically said, fine, I'll just leave.

[eltf177]

Oh, and the argument was something about how the woman didn't like the caregiver following her around the store. So caregiver basically said, fine, I'll just leave.

Somehow I expected it was something like this. So she brought it on herself, and then wants someone to take her home? Here's a clue for next time - DON'T TICK OFF YOUR RIDE (at least until you get home)!

[MoonCat]

She may be someone who doesn't think she needs a caregiver, hence her being annoyed that the caregiver was following her around the store. But then, of course, if the caregiver was her ride home, she has to find another way to get there. There must be some reason she has a caregiver, but I don't think you need to analyze it too much.

[wolfie]

1. Oversized load on a flat bed was part of a house (cut in 1/2). The siding and roof shingles were coming off.

2. We were under a burn ban and had several wild fires in the area. Something had fallen off another flat bed but was still attached. It was being dragged and sparks/flames were visible.

For situations like these, you MIGHT be able to get a faster response than 911, but you need the right hardware (CB radio). On channel 19 (by tradition, that's the "common line" for truckers), call up "Flatbed $direction $description_of_cargo, you got it on?" If they answer, tell them about the problem - 911 would have to dispatch a police car that would then have to locate the truck. Of course, some drivers don't have their CB on, so they won't hear you. In that case, 911 is the fastest method.

In case #1, that load sounds large enough that it should be in "pilot cars required" territory. In that case, the "chase" pilot car (lead checks for clearances, chase warns about traffic coming up from behind) should have notified the driver.

I've done calls like that on occasion - UPS truck with its roll-up door open, car carrier with a loading ramp extended and almost dragging, etc. The typical reaction is "Oh shit!", followed by pulling onto the shoulder as soon as it's safe to do so.