Dispatchers, what nonemergency calls have you received that actually were an emergency?

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[@BlackMoonsHowl1598]

I'm a mailman. If there's a home with an elderly customer that usually gets their mail daily, and it piles up for 3-4 days, I'll call non-emergency to do a check. Done it half a dozen times in 10 years, all (fortunately) have turned out fine.

[@230a.m.3]

I like you.

[@Oddballkane]

Good guy doing what he can.

[@stinky-smelly]

You're sweet. Keep doing that :)

[@vixfeetunder]

My grandma was in a rehab facility for physical therapy and I took a weekend trip with out informing the post office. I rolled up to my house at like 11:30 on a Tuesday morning with the rental car to the cop knocking on the door. It was embarrassing to just say I was on vacation

[@stinky-smelly]

@@vixfeetunder I'm sorry you felt embarrassed! I doubt nobody cared and everyone was just happy y'all were safe.

[@imsquiddly6836]

When I was in my early teens I made friends with a quiet girl who had a history of self harm and suicidal thoughts. One day she was texting me and going on and on about how miserable she was. She said something that prompted me to ask what she was trying to tell me and she just responded with “Goodbye.” Neither of my parents were home and neither were answering their phones (I can’t remember why but they were both busy). Fearing the worst I called 911 for the first and so far only time in my life. I explained to the dispatcher what was happening and could only give the girl’s name as I didn’t know her address at the time, we hadn’t known each other long. Eventually I get a call back from the sheriff (she lived in the middle of bum fart nowhere apparently) and he’s outside their house but no one is home. I’m again completely helpless and he hangs up annoyed that I don’t know where she or her family could be. I got the whole story later but apparently she was at swim practice, the coach yelled at her to put her phone away and get back in the water, and she couldn’t think of any other way to end the conversation. From her point of view she was washing her hands at the pool’s bathroom when two cops walked in, asked “are you [first name last name]?” “Uh… yeah…?” “Come with us.” “What…?” I was glad she was alright but come on, child… 🤦

[@Tarsha.C]

And you still did the absolute right thing!!

[@Pokecodm22712]

good job ar least you at least tryed witch honestly is more then I wud do

[@connorchavez5584]

As someone who has this kind of history and is scared of accidentally sounding suicidal (insane thing to fear) I'm always measuring my words and rewording things so I don't worry people. If this happened to me I would've cried. Im glad your friend was okay, I hope she wasn't upset at you

[@lukassimontm3546]

You absolutely did the right thing!! It could very well have been a last goodbye! If you ever happen to be in that kind of situation again - don't hesitate! Call 911. You might save a life.

[@kermit5822]

If anything, she learned someone WOULD care and notice her absence, means a lot bc I was on the other end of someone’s call 💜

[@Z2Wolf]

A lot of these where the person in question is already dead kinda make sense. The logic seems to be 'What the hell would it be an emergency for? They're not getting any more dead!'

[@wiggwigg12]

That is what happened to my dad. He called non emergency when he found my mom dead. They actually made him hang up and call 911. They were assholes in that town.

[@pippagrey9633]

@@wiggwigg12 My sister lived in St Louis in the '80s and came out one Monday to find that sometime over the weekend her car's plates had been stolen. So she called the non-emergency line because who knows when it happened, and it wasn't happening right then. She was told to hang up and call 911, they wouldn't take the report over the regular line!

[@michelleahlstrom9408]

The really sad thing is that we're taught as kids to not make a big deal out of things. Don''t make a scene. Don't 'put people out'. Don't cause trouble. By the time we're adults, we think that bothering anyone for any reason is a burden, and we're embarrassed. Even to the point of being embarrassed to ask for help in emergencies. We need to stop teaching these things to our children. We are worthy of time and attention.

[@rainbowfookinpuggle]

Couldn't have said it better 🖤

[@Kittsuera]

Thing is if it seems borderline between emergency and inconvenience, probably worth calling either number and prefacing the answer with idk what to call this but blank is blank. Give the primary concern and the reason. But in any case, if the risk is immediate danger to person or property its better calling it a. Emergency. If its a inconvenience that is probably fine left alone then the non emergency number. Like someone lost a truck trailer and its just sitting in the middle of a multi lane road. 🤔

[@mechengr1731]

This is me. I'm worried about being a bother or being accused of drug seeking, so I put off getting things looked at.

[@Ms3queen]

Yeah

[@Ms3queen]

Yeah

[@jade4994]

I called the NHS non emergency number because i wanted advice on what i thought was bad acid reflux, during a long bank holiday period over Easter. The woman says to me 'look in the mirror, what colour are your lips?' I said 'blue'. Yeah it was an asthma attack 😂😂

[@thepinkestpigglet7529]

Ladies: Your period is not supposed to be crippling. High uncomfortable? Sure. But you should be able to get out of bed in the morning. It shouldn't make you throw up or want to kill yourself. Get checked out. Demand it. Get second third oponions if youre dismissed. You might have a cyst or endometriosis at best and cancer at worst.

[@katherine_rosalita]

Well, throwing up on its own isn't actually concerning; period hormones can infact cause people to throw up, I'm one of them; the rest is very valid though ^^

[@darkdest6664]

i beg to differ. Mine are absolutely horrid. and can last for 3 months at a time. Got me on that DEPO bec fk that shit.

[@Tishanfas]

Yeah, it's taken me about 40 years to realise this. Turns out I have the triple threat of PCOS ( which I did get diagnosed with fairly early), fibroids and endometriosis. Yay me!

[@amazingnobodylee]

That is not normal get that checked out ​@@darkdest6664

[@philippak7726]

it turned out to be PCOS for me, because my "I don't want to move because it hurts, but I don't get enough sick days so I'm powering through though I want to be sobbing" isn't something they teach you to know is "wrong"

[@dude988]

In my city when you report even a susptected fire they sent the whole team. One time I woke up from my downstairs neighbours smoke detector. Neighbour was walking his dog, I could smell something burned. Calles the fire department and told them how it smelled like smoke, but no flames, nobody is in the building and I just need some help with going in and stopping the possible fire. Yeah, few minutes later two big a** fire trucks, an ambulance, emergeny doctor and I think the police arrive in our tiny German street. You know how narrow those streets from 1387 are in Europe. Stuck there were also the public bus (sorry), a delivery driver who handed me my new computer ("Is there a fire?") and a kid with their driving teacher having a real life driving lesson. In the end it turned out my neighbour had boiled some eggs, forgotten about them and then went on his merry way. Water gone, eggs bursted and smoked. I was highly embarressed about the whole situation but the firefighter told me it was the right thing to call. That's why they all came, better be safe than sorry.

[@michaelbujaki2462]

One of the many things I have learned is that Germans do not play around with safety.

[@lucindawelenc2191]

"People are just not good at assessing the situation" is exactly the reason that 911 operators in my county handle both emergency and non-emergency calls.

[@Cassiopea525]

The whole women’s abdominal issues being underestimated hits home for me. Well me and my mom. I always told my OB about my unusually heavy periods keeping me up through the night. Well eventually my period just… didn’t stop. Months of bleeding while trying to get tests an appointments. Had necrotic tissue. As for my mom… Took seven years for a doctor to listen to my mom about her pain and when she got a hysterectomy the surgeon said it was the worst adenomyosis he’s ever seen.

[@Tarsha.C]

18+ months of nonstop bleeding and being on medication that is supposed to stop that... things move very slowly in women's health. My SIL ended up needing a hysterectomy due to her fibroid growing to the size of a basketball that weighed 3kg because no one took her seriously.

[@krosse9692]

Yeah, unfortunately the reality is that in the medical field we get used to people lying. And lying a lot. And you can probably guess, unfortunately, the group that lies the most. It's not right, but you need to hold other women a lot more accountable for lying, because they fucked you, not the medical field.

[@dude988]

My sister was in the ER with abdominal pain that was so bad she almost passed out. The female doc told her it's just her period and to take some otc painkillers. My sister is over 40 and knows her period. She also has two kids and said their birth was less painful than that. She in fact needed surgery and we can't understand how another woman would not take her seriously.

[@kaycollarfeild]

I was bleeding for over a year straight. As it turns out, it was just my BC. But over a year later (so would be 2 years of constant bleeding), i got a letter last week tellinv me im on the waiting list to see an gynaecologist still... Like bitch, if my bleeding hadnt stopped i might be dead. Im still Anemic from this ~

[@kimielle]

My best friend has high blood pressure. Like, has to be on meds and test her pressure multiple times per day high. Has been like this for years. In her 30's after having 2 kids, her doctor told her he's referring her to a hospital for a tubal ligation (getting her tubes tied basically) as another pregnancy will straight up kill her. She went to the hospital with the referral and the (obviously it was) male doctor she had been referred to told her she was too young and vetoed the procedure without even looking at her chart. Well, about a year and a half later there was a condom rip, she got pregnant again, and had a stroke 3 months in. She survived but now when we get vetoed by a doctor we both ask the doctor to take a second look before the medical board does.

[@dusk194]

Also can we please acknowledge that period pains can be so bad for women that their appendicitis feels like normal period pain or just a bad day. Women aren’t missing work or school every 4 weeks, we just function through that level of pain with a Tylenol and a heating pack. And they call us the weaker sex

[@dude988]

Have you ever watched small children? The boys cry all the time and get told not to. Girls are mean and fight dirty, they get told to be nice and behave. I'm sure if we would let it run naturally women would rule the world.

[@cybergalacticnova]

Yup. Period problems are quite common too. Cysts, cancer, endometriosis, adenomyosis, etc.

[@kawaibakaneko]

And childbirth is no walk in the park either

[@generalpuggamer9336]

Pretty sure people mean physically weaker, not generally. That does sound pretty damn awful, but you ever had your minecraft dog die?

[@Whammytap]

Reminds me of this quote: "Why do people say 'grow some balls?' Balls are weak and sensitive. They should say 'grow a vagina.' Those things take a pounding!" --Betty White

[@arctistarfox]

When I was a baby my mom accidentally locked herself out of the house, leaving ~1-year-old me alone in my bedroom on the second floor. Thinking fast, she ran across the street to our neighbor and asked to use the phone (this was 2005-ish and mom didn’t have a cell phone). Neighbor told her to call the fire department, and mom almost called non-emergency but neighbor (a mother of three by that time) said “You are locked out of your house and your baby is alone inside; this is 911-worthy.” Dispatcher sent a fire truck to the house and the brave fireman managed to climb into an open window and bring me to my terrified mother. Apparently, little me was unfazed by the ordeal. I kinda wish mom had grabbed her digital camera (like I said, no smartphones yet) and taken some pictures, but, I have to take her word for it.

[@kimielle]

One time we were on a balcony and my visiting friend's toddler locked us out there. There were no external locks to let us unlock it from the outside as there was a safety metal cage around the whole apartment balcony. We had to frantically try to teach a nearly panicking toddler how to unlock the door

[@Moosic14]

Not a dispatcher but I witnessed someone being kidnapped. I panicked and called the nonemergency line because I knew I needed to call the cops, but couldn’t decide which line to call.😅 even worst my first words were I don’t know if this is a crime, but I saw someone get kidnapped(shortened for you convenience). The dispatcher was so nice😊 she chuckled, and she said, yes, ma’am that is a crime.😅😂 I would’ve been dead laughing.

[@valenciageode25]

It’s dark to say, but I can see why someone would call the non emergency line when their spouse is dead. They probably figure they’re already dead so it’s not gonna help to call emergency.

[@crystalfrost1330]

Can confirm: periods with endometriosis and a burst appendix feel the same. I was on my period when my appendix burst too. Also, passing a kidney stone is comparable to beginning-mid stages of labor. I had 4 kids. Before getting pregnant with my 3rd, I passed a kidney stone. I was absolutely convinced that despite it being medically impossible and me being small, I was going to give birth in my bathroom that night. Imagine my relief 😂

[@SingingSealRiana]

Yeah, I would Not notice my Appendix bursting either with my Periode . . . With a pain Level AS high AS IT can get the only difference IT would make would probably BE fever but I would Not feel that at that Moment since dizzy and cold sweat IS normal for me

[@michaelbujaki2462]

@@SingingSealRiana to repeat what @thepinkestpigglet said earlier: "Ladies: Your period is not supposed to be crippling. High uncomfortable? Sure. But you should be able to get out of bed in the morning. It shouldn't make you throw up or want to kill yourself. Get checked out. Demand it. Get second third oponions if youre dismissed. You might have a cyst or endometriosis at best and cancer at worst."

[@lucindawelenc2191]

I had two natural childbirths. The kidney stone was worse.

[@Elentay_Maple]

Yeah I need to get checked. Getting out of bed is horrifyingly painful.

[@brooke8248]

I've never been so at peace with thinking my life was at its end than when I had a kidney stone (didn't realize what it was til after)

[@doorlocke8009]

in relation to the plane story: you'd be surprised how calm a lot of emergency flight situations can be. You declare and emergency and squawk 7700 and everyone in a hundred mile radius stops to figure out how to help you, the most tense/emotional ones are usually where the pilot's fallen unconscious/died mid flight and the tower has to talk a passenger through how to land. Actually if you get the chance, listen to the recording of US flight 1549 (the airline that landed into the Hudson river) more than a hundred souls on board, landing in conditions with a near 0% survival rate and it sounds like they're discussing their afternoon plans.

[@nastyachernomorchenko1065]

I loved this episode of ACI, the pilot was so calm I remember it almost 20 years later.

[@SpringStarFangirl]

And then there was Air Canada 143, the Gimli Glider. Coolest shit ever.

[@hunterlawrence3573]

Wait, even if the pilot falls unconscious, shouldn't there be a copilot? Why would a passenger have to land?

[@doorlocke8009]

@@hunterlawrence3573 For smaller/private planes, for large airlines they usually have 2 pilots who switch out depending on the length of the flight. Smaller planes will usually have 2 sets of controls for the front seats and if the pilot falls unconscious the person sitting shotgun may have to take over.

[@crackheadpete4171]

I’ve had to call 911 relatively often in my job. I work with those who are non verbal and have seizure disorders (not epilepsy and not Grand Mal. Seizures). They always need to be convinced that what’s happening is indeed a seizure. “They are responsive” “yes, sometimes patient is responsive during” *stares at me* “how do you know it’s a seizure?” “Well if you look at patient you’ll see the repetition in [symptoms that indicate a seizure for patient]” “I’ve never heard of that before” “yeah there are many types of seizures” It’s super frustrating

[@allisond.46]

I mean, unless they’re at risk of choking themselves, do you need to call 911?

[@crackheadpete4171]

@@allisond.46 yes. We have protocols, if it hits the 30minute mark after using rescue meds 911 is necessary

[@lilia3944]

​@@allisond.46partial/focal seizures have a point where they become emergencies. Always after half an hour, a status is never good, sometimes earlier if that usually precedes grand mal seizures. Sometimes just because it's weird - if someone's seizure lasts much longer than usual or there's new symptoms, we tend to treat that like a first seizure. The cause of their usual seizures has been determined, but this could be something different. I'm assuming this persons company has similar rules to ensure their clients safety.

[@curious810]

I called my cable provider because my business internet stopped working. The guy showed up to investigate, looked in my basement and shouted “Call the Fire Department, NOW!” Apparently the ground for the building next to us was severed by a passing truck and that building was grounding through our building. This quickly burned out our ground, and BOTH buildings were grounding through my cable lines. We could hear the electricity in the coaxial cable. We were seconds/minutes from both buildings burning down. Four Alarm response including the county ladder truck, and one department from the next county (actually second closest town) TLDR: That one time Comcast actually helped a customer.

[@xenohazard]

That TLDR is sending me.

[@Zeyox96]

I'mma be honest, being a non-native speaker it took me quite a number of rereads and a lot of hard thought to figure out how the fuck a truck would sever the very earth underneath a building and how that'd lead to said building burning the earth underneath another building and plowing all the earth through cable lines and how that'd lead to audible electricity in a cable. Having that said, that's actually nuts. Glad it sounds like it ended okay.

[@curious810]

@@Zeyox96 The wires are overhead and the line in question was too low, with the power lines at normal height.

[@a.n.9800]

@@Zeyox96 I’m a native speaker and I read it the same way you did XD o7

[@Tarsha.C]

My hometown had an explosion at the local recycling centre (don't put batteries in your recycling people!!! When they crush it together, batteries go BOOM and catch fire). Luckily, no one was hurt and the fire station was right next door, so they were on the scene very quickly. The centre was only closed for about a month.

[@orangepeelqueen2787]

Called the fire department because we were driving and saw an entire barn on fire. No one was around or seemed concerned so we were just like "hey, just in case it's a problem there is a whole barn just.... burning?" Turned out to be a controlled burn by the owner...

[@srose1088]

This is a common thing to do if you want to demolish a structure.

[@wiggwigg12]

I was the one who called non emergency whoops. I’m a pharmacist. I had a patient get angry that I couldn’t fill something without speaking to the doctor first. He was furious through the drive thru window and then came back half an hour later, threw an empty pill bottle across the counter at me, and said “now why won’t you fill it?” I proceeded to explain the same things to him again, and that I don’t care what another pharmacist did, that they probably shouldn’t have. We here at this company need time to talk to your doctor before we poison you. I was diplomatic. Understanding, compassionate but solid in I simply couldn’t do it until his doc called us back. (I wasn’t even the pharmacist who flagged the script. Just the messenger. But I happened to agree with my fellow pharmacist, and wasn’t about to undermine my boss either, but it WAS an unsafe dosage regardless). After finally getting the idea that I wasn’t going to do it, he looked at me in the face, looked me up and down, and then looked at my name tag before looking me in the eyes and saying “well, we’ll see eachother again”. When he left I called non emergency to make a report because I know darn well no documentation means it didn’t happen, and we were closing I half an hour and my tech was going to be walking out on her own to her car. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to her because I didn’t want to make a big deal about it. I called and operator was like “yeah we’ll send an officer out but next time call us while it’s happening so no one gets hurt.” I was like “well I wanted him to leave so I didn’t call” and she said “well what if he didn’t leave. Call us before it gets there” She was right. I had just been so brainwashed by that company that I had to take whatever the customer threw at me. But the cop that came was super nice and he waited in the parking lot for us to close and get to our cars safely which I appreciated. My favorite part about it is that my district leader told me to suck it up and give him the benefit of the doubt and refused to ban him from the store even when I said I was uncomfortable about him coming back.

[@AgentSapphire]

I've only called 911 once. My dad was light headed and fainted in a chair and became unresponsive. He has a history of heart issues so I called while mom tried to wake him up. When the ambulance was halfway here he woke up and everything turned out fine. I think it was a weird medicine interaction that caused his blood pressure to fall iirc. But it was scary and the EMTs were super nice and professional. Mad respect.

[@redfailhawk]

Seven years ago a roommate attacked me and (unknown at the time) broke my neck. I called non emergency to report her and get police out. To me at the time it was no big deal. I wish I’d taken the ambulance now.

[@imzadi83fanvids7]

Used to have to have a fight with my mother to get her to call even the non-emergency line to get lifting help when Dad or Grandma fell. She has back problems and knee problems and should not be lifting anyone. Not to mention you're not supposed to move anyone who fell anyway in case there is a head injury. But to this day she worries that EMS must have thought she was a bad wife/mother for leaving them on the floor until help arrived. One time Grandma had a bad fall and was laying flat on the floor after hitting her head in a door. Mom insisted to just get her up, which is what Grandma wanted, and only took her to the ER (Grandma didn't want to go) after a knot developed on her head. No head/brain injury though...turned out she'd broke her C1 & C2! Every medical personal who treated her was shocked she wasn't paralyzed. My Mom was a genuinely loving and dedicated caregiver but had that old school "Don't look bad to the neighbors" mentality. Plus a lack of first aid, knowing she'd be sitting in the ER for hours with one of them mad at her because they didn't want to be there.

[@philippak7726]

I called the emergency line because of popping sounds Doesn't sound dangerous does it? The week before we had an arsonist light multiple scooters on fire and put them around our neighbourhood, including the nearby nature reserve, and one above our house by our friends' car, which totaled the car and the one next to it. What did all this sound like before we went outside to find out what the new chainsaw noise was? Popping! (and the fire truck sounded like a chainsaw, fun!) Anyway, I was explaining to the dispatcher what I heard, why I was concerned, where it was coming from, and in the middle of that she got handed a note. "I've just been notified, a few minutes ago (when the sound had happened) they did a multiple-cannon salute at [government building] on the far side of that park. Do you think this could be what you heard?" I nearly melted with embarrassment and started apologising, but she interrupted me. "You thought, for good reason, there was an actual emergency. You did the right thing calling us!"

[@NijutheWolf]

I once called the cops as a child, as my parents were smoking weed in the other room. (Wasn't legal at the time). I panicked and hung up after the "911, whats your emergency?" And the cops showed up a bit later. My mom explained what happened, and i didnt get in trouble. I did cry for a bit, though. We still laugh about it today.

[@matalynaustin8319]

I was driving in a small town, Texas when a woman in scrubs flagged us down. Only for us to see a small rehab facility on fire, she was asking us to call 911. Me and my mom pulled over and called 911 as soon as they picked up the phone he said hold, we could hear them laughing in the background. When he got on the phone he asked why I did not I say there was a fire at first, but he put me on hold too quickly to say anything. All of the 10 residents and staff were safe. The building did burn down. We later found out on their towns Facebook page that the jail, fire department, police department and dispatch all in one building, they were switching shifts.

[@laurenking5114]

Not a dispatcher, but front desk admin for a GPs office. The amount of people that tried to book a same-day doctor's appointment for their heavily bleeding hands or babies with high fevers was astounding. I know no-one likes the emergency room, but the nearest appointment I could get them was weeks away and they needed to go to the emergency room! It always worried me when I told them that and they said they would 'just keep an eye on it then'.

[@aracheldra8763]

I must admit, I did exactly that when I broke my arm. I had never broken an arm before, didn't realise it would hurt more and more over time, and didn't really realise the emergency department was an option until the doctor's surgery told me. In the end all the emergency department did was put it in a sling, but I suppose it could have needed a good bit more --- they wouldn't have known until after they'd X-ray'ed it.

[@BobBob-vy9ds]

I understand pricing (if in the United States of America) though. It's insane the prices for things. An "examination" I had (I talked to them for an hour, due to the medications I take, the bloodwork that was meant to happen didn't, since it was the wrong day in the week to do the test) has been billed to me for $310. That is after the $47 dollar, paying without insurance price reduction. (My mom and I are going to try and get that fixed, especially since I didn't even get an examination, I got bloodwork done later in the week, that after insurance costed $21. The no insurance was a fuck up on my part, they word the online check in weirdly, though the intake I had a week prior was charged to the insurance as $500 or something like that). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Currently, my back is in some way, fucked up. The internet is not helpful when the pain is in the upper back. You will still only ever get results for lower. I think, at this point, that I may have either torn/sprained some muscles or dislocated one or both of my scapulas. The incident that would have caused this, would have been last summer. Hurt real bad the first few weeks, yet got better, than I just kept reinjuring it some way or another. Main reason why I don't go now is because: A. Anytime I tell a family member they seem unconcerned over any worries I have and have the attitude of: "I live in chronic pain, you can too." B. Cost, I have no insurance, I am in high school, the only way I could afford seeing the doctor is through my parents. My parents (mainly my dad, the one who is the insurance holder) have general reasons to be mad at me and not want to pay for it. C. I do welding in school, having to rest for a back injury would have put a serious damper in those plans (it was my way of figuring out if I actually wanted to go into it as a career). D. If it's a dislocated scapula, I hate the idea of getting it put back in place. Looks painful and heeby jeebies.

[@arashi32900]

Guess who thought they were just ovulating because they were used to excruciating pain from that region but actually had a cyst burst and had to go to the emergency room? Me. If pain from that area is so bad that you feel like you can't function, you most definitely need to get it checked out.

[@teraba1696]

I didn't think to get checked for 3 years till my bestmate forced me too, so glad she did as they found out I have a non cancerous growth, possibly a cyst aswell, and that I had an infection aswell, my tube is also shriveled up a bit

[@arashi32900]

@@teraba1696 Here's hoping everything turns out well. Sending love and healing your way

[@caseycaffrey0720]

I remember in like December 2020 I called 999 for an ambulance because the pain in my lower abdominals was so unbearable. They said they would sent out an ambulance when one was available. I remember calling them around midnight, passing out until they knocked on the door so loud that my Mom and I woke up AT 4AM. It turned out to be kidney stones.

[@Dysan72]

If you are unsure if it's an emergency or not call the emergency line. If it is an emergency you've called the right people. If it's not, they can connect you with the right people. The operators are also much better at distinguishing that then you are.

[@Kevin-gg2bl]

I've actually heard that in many places, story 9 would be considered a non-emergency. If the home intruder is no longer in the house or threatening to come in, you're seen as safe and only when police are available will they head over. Heck, there's even the internet suggestion that if you have people stealing from your shed or detached garage, to tell dispatch they're in your house, otherwise you might not get police, immediately.

[@Vixandra]

Had a mom call up when I was working for the Ambulance company that held the county EMS contract. City fire and her insurance company had refused to send her help while her daughter was having an asthma attack that meds weren't helping. I was dispatching the area the call was in so I dropped it as a code two (urgent but not emergency), called the unit and let them know city fire had refused but mom was scared and I could hear the kid struggling and they booked it, were on scene in under ten minutes. The crew scooped up the kid and booked it code 3 to a hospital, full lights and sirens. They checked in after and the kid would not have survived being driven to the hospital. Still not sure why city fire refused the call when they'd send us out on far less emergent things.

[@T-rev33]

I work in EMS and this happens a lot. You'll get dispatched for a fall and turns out it's a stroke or something but it also happens the other way where you get dispatched for difficulty breathing or something and they are just cold and want you to hand them a blanket from their closet across the room even though they are perfectly capable of getting it themselves and you just had to drive through a snowstorm to get there....yes people do stuff like that sometimes.

[@Oreckful]

Not a dispatcher or anything of the sort. Sometimes, I'm a route driver for a vending company. On one of my stops, one day, I was about to pull into a guard shack (you had to sign in to this facility). Before I could pull in, a sheriff stopped me and informed me that there was a fire and I wouldn't be able to get into the factory. (It's a metal forge factory for context). That's when I had taken a better look around. There were 6 firetrucks with hoses on full blast! I called my boss to let him know I couldn't make that stop for the day. Went back the next day, and business was as usual. Spoke to a couple of employees, and it turns out one of the machines malfunctioned! This caused a spark into a flammable material that resulted in a fire reaching the ceiling(around 5-6 stories tall) Nobody was hurt, and all was fine, I've never seen something like that firsthand, so it still amazes me.

[@EterPuralis]

I work at a call center, and once i called someone who just sounded... OFF. I alerted my boss, and to this day, i don't know if it was all in my head, and i made a bunch of noise over nothing. It haunts me.

[@BobBob-vy9ds]

Did their voice sound weird? Or was it just in the matter in which they spoke that was off?

[@EterPuralis]

@@BobBob-vy9ds probably the latter 😅 there was something about the phrasing and how she said it

[@Sarahpurple12]

I'm glad the woman with appendicitis had family and healthcare services that took her seriously. Unfortunately, the UK is notoriously bad for anything regarding pain in a woman or chronic issues. Super bad headache? Probably going to start your period soon. Stomach pain that forces you into a fetal position? Probably your period. Throwing up, even though you have only ever thrown up two times since you were an infant? Period. Like, no, hun, we are so much more than just periods. Sometimes it is, but most of the time it isn't. Even if it were something like endometriosis, adenomyosis, or polycystic ovary syndrome, that ISN'T a period problem.

[@sandyhenderson441]

Not just the UK is bad about women's pain. There is research across the world showing the same thing - women's pain is routinely ignored, dismissed as attention/drug seeking or downplayed when staff accept that she does have pain. Women patients are also given smaller doses of analgesia than men and are left longer before analgesia is given. The really sad finding though was that the doctors' gender didn't affect behaviour. When women patients had pain, women doctors were just as likely to ignore their pain as men doctors were.

[@SirberusKhaos]

how much school does it take to no longer think that someone might know what pain thy have every month feels like? and thus you know better than them if this pain is normal. they only found my cancer because my GF at the time yelled at a DR in the E.D. "I know what his pain looks like an this in not normal. do more tests!"

[@cathyvickers9063]

I have an embarrassing non emergency that wasn't an emergency except in the fact I was unable to get off the ground, & was having a panic attack. Yesterday. Firemen were kind enough to heave me up.

[@kawaibakaneko]

It's a real emergency, you could have passed out and then woke up weak, confused and *alone* It's recipe for a worse emergency. Take of care yourself, the firefighters are here for everyone we all deserve them you included

[@pippagrey9633]

I've called for a lift assist when my husband had a fall and couldn't get up by himself. I had to call 911 but informed them it wasn't an emergency, we didn't need full lights and sirens, it was just that my guy couldn't get up and I wasn't big enough to help him. The EMTs were quite happy to get him stood up, and did talk him into going into the ER to be checked out since the issue that caused him to fall wasn't a regular thing, but agreed it wasn't an emergency emergency. I've talked to other EMTs, both volunteer and paid, and they all say they are quite happy to go out to do lift assists without transport when people fall and are fine but can't get themselves up without help.

[@bluefox2844]

When I was little I called 911 but as soon as the dispatcher spoke I got scared and hung up. In the US if you call they will come. So they did. So my very confused mother was gardening when a full police force showed up. My mother figuring I was the one who called since it was just the two of us found me hiding and crying in a closet. Brought me out and had me explain to them why I called. My dog Roxy had run away. The officers were relieved I was okay and promised to keep an eye out for her. 😅

[@joannbeiser4907]

I am not an emergency service provider but… Walking my grade school boy up a steep street to a bus stop. I saw a bunch of smoke coming out of a house roof turbine. I got the attention of the lady at the top of the street to call 911 to report a house on fire across the street. She stood there finishing her phone call, the children wanted to watch! I said get on the bus. She was still in the f’n phone. I said fire!? Finally called 911. Thank goodness the fire department was 2 blocks away! I stood across from the house pointing as soon as I heard sirens approaching. They were testing the heat on the door, used the door breaker, out ran the poor dog. The renter had left a cigarette burning to go to work. Lost the bedroom. Had trouble catching the dog. The animal control was lucky enough to catch him later. I had to believe that crazy B wished she had listened to my original request while I got her son and mine on the bus!

[@lucikens666]

My friend worked as one of the people who would get 999 calls. (Back when a certain incident happened at a concert ) when someone first called about they didnt believe it was real and that it was a prank but moments later the whole officr was getting the same calls. Crazy story.

[@allisond.46]

Astro world?

[@gemh89]

​@@allisond.46Ariana Grande concert terrorist attack

[@Stripesheal18]

I once called the fire department about a burning smell. It had been going on most of the day, and we couldn't locate it. I kind of thought it wasn't a big deal and I didn't want to bother anyone. I called and said, I don't know if this is anything. I explained the situation and they said you need a firetruck. A few minutes later firemen show up, start cutting a hole in the ceiling and turn out part of it was over 400 degrees. One of the lights was malfunctioning. Anyway, our house was a few minutes from being on fire.

[@cha0sb1rd]

Only time I called 911, I was driving from Mammoth, CA to Los Angeles. There was a 16 wheeler swerving across the two lane highway in between the mountains of the high desert heading south (around Lone Pine). This wasn’t the type of sway that happens in high wind, this was clearly inebriation. After we’d passed him when the road opened up, we saw about three cop cars behind us in the distance, couldn’t have been more than 15 minutes since the call. Saw the dude get pulled over in the rearview and that was that.

[@ValleyOakPaper]

Thank you! Your call may have saved lives.

[@Xavier24781]

In the summer mulch (woodchips used for ground coverings, for those who don’t know) will start fires- something I found out one sunny day. If you see the ground smoking in an area- call your fire/emergency line and let them know where it’s at. It’s quite common but can spread easily to homes/forest and hurt people

[@empressmarowynn]

One of my neighbors ran a landscaping business and he had a chipper for any branches removed. But instead of disposing of the mulch properly he would just dump it over a hillside into a forested area on our street. The hill went down several stories before flattening and that pile managed to reach street level. The next summer we kept seeing smoke coming from it and the smell was nauseating. I was the only neighbor who was willing to cooperate with local authorities because all the others kept reporting it anonymously out of fear of retaliation. They set up a sting operation from my house to catch him in the act. Dude got all of his equipment towed and had to pay an enormous fine, plus pay for the cleanup. It literally would have been cheaper for him to pay for proper disposal than all the fines and fees. The city was not playing around with their forested land catching fire.

[@kimberly_erin]

@@empressmarowynnthe dumbest part is he could have sold it or even given it away. This person was not very bright.

[@Time4ndSm4rts13]

Gotta out myself as an idiot, I gotta. So like 5 years ago my family was out to get Tex Mex food. They had these mini chimichangas that were deep fried. My stupid butt didn't see the half sized, fried toothpick holding it closed. I swallowed it whole, it got stuck, coughed it out. Only time my sister ever called 911. The toothpick incident will haunt me forever lol

[@sweetdaddydee1314]

No matter the size of the aircraft, if you declare an emergency, the airport and any ATC take you very seriously. From a small cessna to an a380. They would rather overkill the response and not have any of it needed than not sending a whole lot out and end up having shit go down. There was an airline (porter i believe) flying from toronto to dulles years ago that diverted to my citys small regional airport due to smoke in the cockpit/cabin. And they responded in force to that.

[@SammyLammy1D]

I remember one year during midsummer we were at some family friends' house. The neighbours were home alone (the kids were probably 14-16 years old with a few friends over). They were playing in the pool, when suddenly one of them decided to dive into the pool. The problem was that the pool wasn't deep enough so he broke his neck. Me and the kids of our family friends stayed inside, whereas my mom (a nurse) and the mom of our family friends ran over. One of the boys had knocked on our house and just said the guy "tripped in the pool" so they thought it was a minor injury. When they got there and realised what had happened, they immediately yelled to one of the boys to call the emergency number, which he did. The ambulance arrived, but I don't think the boy made it. Mum doesn't know either, but considering the time he was still in the pool and all that, I think it's unlikely that he survived.

[@tanyagarcia3721]

Nursing homes generally have nurses that either don't want to work or bought their licenses and didn't really go to school for that

[@kurotsuki7427]

"Im afraid we ran over it with a tank" oh god 😅

[@SirberusKhaos]

as a person who has hit a few thing with a tank in my life, it is rarely an emergency... for the tank...

[@anjachan]

"no, your stab wound can not hold" 😅

[@sweetpeafairy2255]

I’m epileptic so the seizure I had wasn’t the reason I called 111. I always vomit & have a migraine / bruises after but that time it didn’t stop so like 7hrs later I called 111 just to make sure. Was told it very much was serious and I need to get to the hospital for possible concussion as there was a massive bump on my head. I was fine but I could tell the operator was concerned / confused as to why I called the non emergency line. It was like 4am and I didn’t wanna wake my parents up I just wanted to sleep lol (don’t sleep if you get a head injury is rule 101)

[@brokeappl]

these videos are so bing-able and easy to fall asleep to

[@Lilli_Loves_Bondi]

It’s so true. I fell sleep 7 hours ago and it’s repeated all night lol

[@byuftbl]

There’s two lessons here: one-some people are just plain clueless, two-other people just freak out in an emergency and can’t think straight

[@herstoryanimated]

1:40 you are absolutely spot-on. I am a veterinary nurse and when taking calls people can essentially say 'he's dying!!', so of course you get them down immediately and the dog is bouncing around like nothing's happened (this is always our preference though, as we just want them to be ok). Or you get the ones where 'he's ok I just want a bit of advice' then after getting details (usually interspersed with 'but he's not really sick', 'I don't think it's a problem' and, 'I'll just see how he gets on for a few days') you realise the pet is actively dying and needs to come down immediately - usually followed by complaining about how inconvenient it is for us to demand this, how it's messing with their day 🤦‍♀️. Obviously there's the whole spectrum in between, but both these ends of it are incredibly common.

[@secretninja247]

My mum was a ward clerk at a hospital. There was a guy who came to A&E (emergency ward at the hospital) for a splinter…not a massive piece of wood just a normal splinter…the receptionist took it out for him with tweezers 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@cdtaylor7732]

As a pilot myself, declare the emergency! Now, after having lots of hours and a flight instructor myself, I would have checked for carb icing and possible flooding of the engine with fuel since the student was doing stalls. But, when in doubt declare the emergency and get it on the ground!

[@zipawits]

About 10 or so years ago, I called the cops on a homeless guy peeing out in the open. It was main street in a small town with a school a few miles down the road. So, I thought it was pretty inappropriate. Well turned out he was wanted for assaulting his wife. Was wanted for a few years.

[@DrewskisBrews]

Story 15 is pretty interesting. If anyone is wondering, all parties (pilots and ATC) did the right thing. If you doubt that, look into what pilots and air safety experts call the "Swiss cheese model"

[@thunderdragon8341]

I called 911 twice my whole life first I went into labor 2nd I had a bleeding head from an assault

[@darthslain]

yeah pretty much always a bad time when an organ is about to go boom...any of them

[@someundeadtalent2016]

One morning at work a super weird coworker was laying on the floor. I didn’t think much of it- he was an alcoholic and often did fucked up shit at work. Didn’t really know how to react, I was 17 and on the job since two months. Told my supervisors, and they were in shock, like „why didn’t you help him up and check his breathing??“ Because I didn’t even realize this could be serious, I was a dumbass at the time. Turns out it was basically the pre-stage of a stroke, he didn’t have any complications following it and felt fine. But damn, did I feel like shit for not realizing it…

[@Schm1dtstorm]

I work in supportive housing for people with severe substance addictions. Was talking with one of our residents and he mentioned feeling suicidal. This was not out of the ordinary for him so I asked some clarifying questions to guage the seriousness of the situation. He didn't have a plan, and based on his responses, it didn't seem like an emergency but I phoned it in to the non-emergency line just to be safe. I don't think I'd been on the phone longer than a minute and a half when officers responded. They talked to him and he assured them that he wasn't going to do anything. This was a couple years ago and he's still with us today as far as I'm aware, but I'm glad my local police take anything of that nature seriously.

[@cloud_congestus]

story 12 sounds an awful lot like me in the not wanting to be a bother part, id be too scared about whatever happened turning out as a small thing to actually realise how big it might be

[@widowkeeper4739]

This one reminds me of my mother. My mother was absolutely the LAST person you ever wanted around in an emergency, because you could NOT convince her anything was really an emergency. She once went to the bathroom but found she couldn't stand up to get up off the toilet. She calls me, who lives two hours away and is on the bus to work. I had to have this conversation trying to convince her on a city bus at 6 that yes, this was actually an emergency and she should “bother” with the paramedics. I finally just had to hang up on her. She called them after that. Turns out she had broken her back while laying in bed and coughing the night before.

[@espurrispossessed]

My aunt had to call for me because I was choking on candy. I was a freshman in highschool , accidentally swallowed or inhaled a hard candy (napoleon)? It got stuck in my throat and I started choking. Dispatcher wasn’t really helpful, just kept asking “what is the child doing” and after repeating multiple times that I was choking and couldn’t breathe we managed to clear it eventually so she hung up 😂

[@avidreader8521]

Story 18: "I'm afraid we ran over it...with a tank." The inflection here just strikes me as *hilarious*; I listened to the story twice before moving on. 🤣

[@Renastarsong]

Pro tip for mystery abdomen pain, be it period related or otherwise: if you can press down hard on the area and don’t immediately almost collapse from the spike of agony, it is not your appendix. Because apparently that particular issue is HIGHLY sensitive to pressure.

[@rinoz47]

911: whats your emergency? Homunculus: I DIDNT GET THE RIGHT NUMBER CHICKEN NUGEEEEEEEEEEEEEETS! Non emergency line: Dispatch? Man who wears socks and birkenstocks: oh hey, im sure it's no big deal, and if someone needs help before me, thats cool, but I kinda jist got ran over, a little...?

[@leamubiu]

If I like, the Like button creeps up to 912. If I don’t, it stays at 911. Never had a worse dilemma in my life.

[@EterPuralis]

The thing about period pain, though... it isn't normal. It's a medical condition 😅 discomfort is normal. Actual pain, and especially PAIN STRONG ENOUGH TO BE CONFUSED WITH A BURSTING APPENDIX is not. You most likely have endometriosis.

[@aurograce2983]

My favorite one so far was there was a power outage when it was about 40 degrees F out. A man called 911 less than 30 min after the power went out because "his house was getting cold". We also had a call at the same time of two older people being upset that they couldn't watch TV because their power went out. Power was back on 20 min later...

[@swarple]

Opposite instance: Taking way too long to call 911 in an emergency. Two guys trying to get into my apartment that I shared with two roommates. Claimed to be one of my roommates’ friends but when we told them she wasn’t there (she actually wasn’t) they began badgering us to open the door for them, not providing any more reasons for why we should do so. We argued with these probably-dangerous creeps for like an hour before actually calling the cops -_- A neighbor ended up scaring them away so to this day I have no idea who they were or what they wanted with us.

[@kimielle]

Not exactly a non-emergency line call but we had a 5 car pile up outside my work one night. One car stopped to turn in to our driveway and the guy behind him didn't brake. Set off a chain reaction. We called 000 which is standard, accidents happen a lot there as it's a main road and customers have to come up over a blind hill just before entering the driveway. Anyway it was low enough speed that there didn't seem to be too many injuries. People were talking, exchanging insurance info and being surprisingly chill. An ambulance turned up, the paramedics assessed everyone and found they were ok to go on with their night but first asked them if it would be ok to use their situation to drill their 3 new teams. They all agreed, except for one guy and three other ambos turned up and strapped people into gurneys and fitted neck braces. They seemed to have a lot of fun. Could have been a lot worse but turned out ok.

[@felixhushpup2545]

Not me but my sister was a receptionist at a spa and the spa had a system where if any known members called they would know so and so is calling and it would say their name on the phone. She receives a call from a woman who had rescheduled an appointment about 30 minutes before and she thought the client called to reschedule her appointment again. Nope when she picked up the phone she hears full on screaming “he is going to kill me he is going to kill me help” before the call dropped. At first thought it was possibly a prank call because if someone were trying to kill you why would you call a spa instead of 911? She told her coworker who said to be safe she should report it to the non emergency line. She did but she didnt think much would come of it. Turns out the woman was dismembered by her boyfriend.

[@miet5224]

I’m guilty of this 🤦🏻‍♀️ I was 25weeks pregnant and suddenly my pants are wet. I’m thinking damn i pissed myself, but no i’m bleeding! Still my husband is calling non emergency and i’m calling the midwife 🤦🏻‍♀️ Non emergency has an intro, where it states the wait time is 15min and that’s when we ask each other if it’s time to call the emergency number! Thankfully they were there in literally 1 minute and everything turned out fine with the baby ❤

[@luvnotvideos]

The comment about people calling the emergency line for non-emergencies and calling the non-emergency line for true emergencies.... yeah, if you're living in the US, you can 100% blame that on our abysmal, life-changing medical fees in our healthcare system, and the fact we are charged ridiculous fees for services We Already Pay For With Our Taxes. There are so many ways we can lose all of our savings just from a single emergency, which is a huge, life-altering decision that many are terrified to make.

[@lazycat5765]

Burst appendix =/= death. My dad just got home from hospital after a burst appendix and burst abscess

[@lovelysakurapetalsyt]

It absolutely does equal death. If you get stuff from your appendix, it causes MASSIVE systems wide infections and very easily causes severe sepsis. I'm glad your dad is okay, but do not downgrade that

[@lazycat5765]

@@lovelysakurapetalsyt when I say it doesn't equal death, then it's because it can be fixed on the operating table. I agree it's deadly if left untreated

[@catrinastars]

...don't people get fined if they call emergency services for a non emergency? I would imagine that the people calling the non emergency line are the ones that don't want to risk it.

[@Oddballkane]

I'm not a dispatcher, but I worked for 119, which is the Covid test line. Had a lady call up saying she couldn't breath properly I had to get her to 999. I think she was trying 911 but got mixed up.

[@Megan-bt9pm]

I worked in a call center for medical office scheduling. Think like your primary care doctor. A woman was talking about how her infant had a fever and wanted to see if there was an opening for later that day. We ask how high it was because infants are especially sensitive to that kind of thing. The baby had a fever of 105. That's dangerous in ADULTS. We had to tell her to immediately call 911.

[@IsYitzach]

I think I called 911 for a stolen bike and then got directed to non-emergency. I think I called 911 for a non-emergency that could have turned into emergency. A car stalled just across an intersection and I called to get police to make sure they didn't get rear ended and turn it from non-emergency to emergency. I know called non-emergency for road debris in an intersection. It was moved out of the way by the next morning.

[@mustwereallydothis]

We had a landslide hit our house one morning. Nobody was injured, and despite the fact that the house was beyond repair, there was clearly no danger of fire, gas leaks, or anything of the sort. Our neighbor came over, and we spent a good half hour trying to figure out what to do and who to call. We were all in such a state of shock that we just could not think straight. Eventually, his mother arrived and ordered him to call 911, which he did. The truly crazy part of the story, though, is that he was a firefighter and was actually on call at the time.

[@wolfie7051]

Our stove was at 400 degrees F and wouldn't turn off on a Saturday morning a few years ago. We didn't know how to turn the gas off, and the gas company was closed on Saturdays. So, I called the fire department. They sent three guys to pull the stove out and shut off the gas. They then told me that I should've called 911. We went out and bought a new stove as soon as they left.

[@instant_mint]

16:50 if she has period pain nearing appendicitis pain on the scale, that definitely is not normal and could be endometriosis or something else that warrants specific treatment. So many women suffer with excruciating pain and sickness during their period, while being told it's "just normal period pain". This needs to be taken more seriously, really

[@DustTheOtter]

A lot of this stems from being taught throughout childhood to not cause any trouble, except that trouble is anything thay brinfs attention to yourself. So we get embarrassed and don't want to cause any problems or be a burden to anyone. Also, I don't know about anyone else, but I was taught that if you call 911 and it's not an emergency, you can go to jail. Took me a long time to get my mind out of that one.

[@Vercalos]

I suppose I did this when my car was stolen. I had no idea how long it had been, didn't believe there was any immediate threat, so I called the non-emergency line.

[@SeriaBJD]

A deer had been hit by a car near my grandmother's home. It managed to jump the fence but collapsed in her yard. It had a badly broken leg/hip and couldn't stand. We didn't want the poor thing to either die by starvation or thirst in her yard over the course of several days, so we called 911 to put it out of its misery. Well it must've been a slow day at the office, because 5 cops came in 3 cars for one juvenile deer (old enough to not be spotted, but still smaller than an adult). After talking it through, one officer went over to shoot it. The conversation went like this: Cop 1: Should we alert the neighbors? Cop 2: Nah, it's (suburb), everyone will think it's fireworks

[@blairephoenix4400]

So, not non-emergent, but I’ve called 911 countless times because people often get in car accidents in front of my house. It’s routine at this point. So routine, in fact, that when I heard a new kind of crash sound one day, it didn’t register that it could’ve been an accident until my family said something. I wasn’t entirely convinced, so I went to look out a window, that’s when I saw a car on its side right outside of my window. I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I automatically assumed it had crashed into my house (but very minimally, considering the lack of interior damage) due to how close it was to my window, so when I called 911, I very calmly and casually told the dispatcher that someone had crashed into my house. She was like “crashed?? Into your house???” And I remained chill and just said “yep, I think so anyway. Idk, let me go outside and check real quick.” as if it was a perfectly commonplace conversation. The truth is, between all of the accidents in front of my house and the fact that the drivers here are notoriously awful, which has me bracing myself for this exact incident for at least two years before it happened, it really just was a “ah,yep. There it is. It finally happened.” kind of moment. (Both passengers were okay despite their car rolling several times, thank goodness!)

[@labtechsuperstar]

I actually called the non-emergency number for the fire dept. I saw a neighbour a few doors down burning trash or yard waste on his garage roof. It wasn't a huge fire but there were sparks flying around. The non-emergency person transferred me to 911. They show up and put out the fire using neighbour's own garden hose. I didn't want to call 911 because I figured it wasn't a huge deal and didn't want to have a big fuss.

[@ultjeja]

I work as a pharmacy technician. I once had a call from someone saying they found out their friend had taken their whole bottle of sleeping pill and wanted to know if there was a chance they would die. They even reiterated the question when I told them to hang up and call 911

[@MaddysinLeigh]

So I have PCOS and have a birth control patch to regulate my period. Without the patch I’ll go 2 or 3 months without a period and then have a month long period. Before my diagnosis I just dealt with it coz “I guess this is just my life now.” Told my cousin and she looked at me like I was crazy before telling me to go to a doctor.

[@matthewcuthbertson7946]

Here in Australia we have 000 as emergency, but then we have 13Health to connect to a qualified nurse for advice, or Policelink for non health related non- emergencies.

[@Resavian]

Anyone who deals with emergencies on the regular stays calm during the emergency, it is what you do so you do it, it is after that, in the quiet moments that the fear and panic hit. Then you go back and deal with the next emergency

[@tomaandkile]

As far as i'm concerned, any significant fall is an emergency. They can cause all kinds of problems. My mom had a bad fall but the only thing visible was a cut on her head so we drove her to the hospital ourselves. Turns out a bunch of shit was broken, including her leg, and she should NOT have been moving.

[@KrystalNCMA]

I work for a tech company and received a call where the caller was repeatedly telling me he was going to kill himself. I ended up reporting the call to management. I don't know what came of it, but definitely not a call you expect to get when working for a tech company.

[@kimberly_erin]

The emergency number is close to the tech support number in the us. And in some countries is the emergency number. I hope that person is ok.

[@DamiesEvilTwin]

I made a 911 call once that probably wasn't an emergency but I wasn't sure how to call in the moment. A truck was hauling a lot of unsecured trash barrels (like, the steel ones parks use) in a trailer, and was coming down a hill that had a V dip valley, and I was on the other hill going the other way - so we would be passing each other in the middle. Well, the trailer went sideways and all the barrels spilled out onto the road. This was a busy workday morning, and I almost was rear-ended because I had to hit the brakes and there were so many cars around (luckily the guy behind me twisted their wheel at the last minute to avoid me). So I called 911 because the position this was all in, I could see people getting into accidents really easily, but nothing had happened just yet. Dispatch was annoyed with me but didn't say it wasn't an emergency, idk.

[@sullivanbell2397]

The nonemergency line is just the emergency line for martyrs

[@Elentay_Maple]

Ah yes, my dad has called 911 I’m fairly sure when I had my first seizure. I was tennnnn and was in an ambulance. Almost kicked the dude putting in an IV though. Also, with the period pains, as someone on my period right now, my sister is advising me to get to a doctor, my excessive pain leaving me crippled in bed for hours even after taking medicine and using my warmie, is making her nervous I have a condition of some sort.

[@bleachrocks2]

I actually called non emergency in November 2023 because I was having trouble breathing and I didn't want to worry or inconvenience anyone. Within 3 minutes of talking to the dispatcher she said "Okay, I'm sending an ambulance because I can hear you wheezing." I had described it as a squeak with each breath. When the ambulance arrived I decided my partner would drive me to the hospital and found out that I'd been suffering from a prolonged asthma attack. The reason I didn't know is because I hadn't had one since I was 8 or so, 20 years prior.

[@kitcat-xn1mn]

On that plane one: one of my exs watched their family friend crash once. The friend had a private plane and was emergency landing at the airport at the same time my friend and their family got back from a trip. From the plane they watched the friends plane go down and explode and everything. They only found out what theyd seen when they landed and called the friend just in case he knew the person that had crashed. They instead got his hysterical wife who told them he was dead on impact. I dont remember what exactly happened but i know it had to do with the engine. Absolutely take that shit seriously every time. You never know which time is going to be the time someone dies

[@marissasmith9231]

I had the worst abdominal pain that I ignored for 4 hours before I finally made my husband take me to the ER. I had an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured.