emergencies in your life?

[spacefem]

have you ever had to call 911? sometimes it's tragic and sad, sometimes it's just weird, sometimes it's what you do for a living.

I've called it once in college for a girl who drank waaaaaay too much alcohol (know the signs!) and once for a crazy drunk guy trying to punch cars by our apartment, that's all I can think of. no fires.

[rowan]

hm, tricky. here, we dial 911 even for non-emergency police things.

I think the only real 911 call I made was when the tornado hit our barn & I was pretty freaked out.

[Aelwyn]

Once when my friend got hit over the head with a glass bottle. In the park. In the middle of the fucking afternoon.

[letthemimejive]

Once when a truck in front of me dropped its bumper on the freeway. It got lodged under my car and then caught on fire from the friction. Not a fun day.

[monk]

I just called 911 about a week and a half ago. I was in the garage working on a car when I saw big black smoke drifting up from behind the house across the street. Apparently the house on the next block that borders the park had it's back fence catch fire.

You know whats really scary? 911 didn't answer. I let it ring at least 20 times the first time I called it. Then I hung up and tried a second time and i got "all circuits are busy at this time, please call back. " on the third try they answered and of course by then half the neighborhood was calling and running towards the fire. My neighbor helped to put it out with a garden hose and by the time the fire department showed up it was put out.

I've also called 911 when some gangbangers staged a minor street fight in my front yard, of course they were long gone by the time the cops showed up.

when I lived in LA i called it several times for either car accidents (bad ones) or for pedestrians on the street who were not conscious for whatever reason.

I've never called it for me or something directly related to me.

[Mathmo]

I've never had to call 999 so far. Long may that continue ...

[spacefem]

Oh dang I forgot car accidents! Guess I need to add on, because of that girl who ran into our car in 2010, I was talking to 911 just as she was knocking on the window asking "CAN WE KEEP THIS BETWEEN US?" oops, too late, nope! (not that I'd ever keep a car accident between us, pay your damn insurance you idiot).

You know whats really scary? 911 didn't answer. I let it ring at least 20 times the first time I called it. Then I hung up and tried a second time and i got "all circuits are busy at this time, please call back. " on the third try they answered and of course by then half the neighborhood was calling and running towards the fire. My neighbor helped to put it out with a garden hose and by the time the fire department showed up it was put out.

this happened to me once too! it was a friday night, we were downtown and luckily flagged down a cop. but 911 just rang and rang. I was hoping that was a fluke and not something that happens regularly, couldn't someone die?

[demonicpoison]

4 times (accidentally clicked 3 though).

Once when I was 5 to get my dad's attention (whoops), once when I was 15 and a man in a car was following me and filming me walk home, once when I was 18 and a drunk homeless woman had sliced her leg open near my house, and once when I was 20 for a friend who drank so much he wouldn't wake up.

It'd be interesting being a dispatcher, I think.

[rowan]

Ooh, I forgot car accidents too. I guess I've called for a couple more then. I did call once for a SUPER scary one that I witnessed. It was on the other side of the highway, a car was turning left in the left turn lane and a truck clipped it and it flipped end over end. It was an old car, the kind that didn't have seat belts. I don't think that image will ever leave me. The lady died. I don't know if the guy did or not. My husband was over there helping do CPR while I stayed in our car with our (then 1-yo) child.

[Rainbow Dolphins]

One time, because our neighbor's dog had its head stuck in a hole in the wall where an old dryer vent used to be and we didn't know when the neighbors would be back (they weren't home) and we were afraid the dog would hurt itself. The people actually came home before anyone came but they couldn't get the dog's head free either and ended up needing help. Not as exciting as other people's stories!

[DruidX]

I've never had to call myself. However I once witnessed some kids setting light to stuff in the park on my way home, but I was young enough I didn't know if 999 worked from a mobile so I walked to the cop shop and reported it there. I've also had 999 called *for* me, when I fell and hit my head on some train tracks.

[Meperidine]

Real 911 once on a friend's suicide threat when we were 13 or 14.

Our college emergency medical services have worked on my friends a bunch of times, on everything from cuts on the finger to hydrocarbon poisoning (those two were the same guy. Who's also an EMT) to sprained ankles to alcohol poisoning to severe suicidal episodes. I guessed I probably made the call around twice so I picked 3 times in total.

[Bork]

Only once, when I came home to find my apartment had been broken into. Police didn't even bother showing up.

[monkeypoop]

thankfully I've never had to call 911 or witnessed/been involved in any emergencies.

[Eravial]

I've called the non-emergency police a couple times I think, like after my house got broken into, but I don't think I've ever actually called 911 personally.

[cwbyrvr]

I've never called, though I did have someone call emergency services on my behalf a couple years ago. Dislocated my kneecap at work, took a pretty nasty spill, didn't want anyone who wasn't a medical professional getting anywhere near me. Lucky me that was all on my employer's worker's comp insurance because I wouldn't have been able to pay for any of that stuff otherwise. I hope I never do wind up responsible for an ambulance bill.

I filed a police report for the first time a couple of months ago (stolen bike), but I used the non emergency number for that, obviously.

[Aum]

911 was called for four out of the eight car accidents I've been in (all as a passenger, btw). In one of those, my dad hit a moving train. In another, we were t-boned by a drunk driver. And my family wonders why I never got my driver's license.

The other times were health related. A couple of years ago I had salmonella poisoning and after 11 hours of puking I went into hypovolemic shock. Luckily my roommate was a trauma nurse, and she called 911. That night was a gong show. The other time was in Nepal when I had malaria and dysentery at the same time. In both of these cases I very nearly died.

Oh, one other time I can remember that is also car related. My family woke up at 3am to discover our station wagon in the driveway was on fire. Turns out that model was prone to faulty wiring. A fire truck came and hosed it down to the chagrin of all my neighbours!

911 is my friend.

[phantasmalkitty]

I had to call once when I was 11 years old. I was at a sleepover with some of my friends, and one of them had a seizure. Turns out she had a form of epilepsy and didn't know it. She's a healthy adult now, and I don't think she's had a seizure since then, thanks to epilepsy medicine.

Is 999 the emergency number in another country?

[Mathmo]

I've still never called 999 although I've now been in an ambulance with flashy lights! (see thread in RW). Phantasmalkitty - 999 is the number here in the UK. (Also, 111 is the number in New Zealand, where I grew up. Top tip for overseas holidays, find out what the emergency services number is in the country you're going to!)

[astrakhan]

Once when I accidentally stabbed my hand with a rusty craft knife, once when my mum was cooking eggs in the microwave and they exploded all over her face :/ (She was fine... a year later when her skin grew back. I was around 8-10 at the time for both of these)

[lillerina]

Once for an accident on the motorway. I phoned it in as we drove past and was told, yeah, we've had that phoned in but thanks for phoning anyway.

[hannahrae]

I called the cops because a guy said he was gonna kill himself if I didn't date him.