Have you ever called 911

[lindakmonty]

several times here as well. Once just this week! A guy here at work just collapsed! Another time one of our guys had a seizure and busted his head really bad.. One time was a guy slammed into my car and took off. I was in it driving as well , my rental property was on fire, car accidents I've witnessed... too many to count. Here at work, they arrive w/in 5 minutes... car accidents usually take much longer due to the locations.

 

[pjb_hockey_mom]

Once. On my way home from work I was heading west bound on one of our crappy highways. A guy on a motorcycle heading east lost controll and he and the bike went flying, bouncing all over the road, so bad that the bike flew over the median.

Scariest thing I'd ever seen. Called 911, was put through to the local State Trooper barracks and they were there within minutes. While I was on the phone with them the motorcycle guy got up and started walking around - couldn't believe it.

 

[dreamcometrue]

just once when my DH had a severe asthma attack and passed out in the bathroom! DH called once when we lived in LA because we thought we heard gun shots in the alley (it turned out to be those firework popper things) and got a recording that they were busy and would take out call as soon as they could! That totally floored me! What if someone was lying there shot and bleeding to death??

 

[blue_river]

I have called 911 once and I hope I never have to do it again.

Last year my mother was in the hospital and called me to check on my father because she hadn't heard from him.

DH and I drove over to their house and when I walked into the kitchen, my father was sitting up at the table and I thought he was dead. He was green and his mouth was open, food all over him. It is a sight I will never forget.

DH husband called while I stood there yelling at my Dad to wake up. They asked DH if he was breathing (remember I thought he was dead) and when I listened up close and heard shallow breaths I can't begin to tell you the relief that swept over me.

It took them less than 5 minutes to arrive but it seemed like a lifetime.

 

[MushyMushy]

Never for a medical emergency, but most of the times I've had to call, the police have been less than 5 minutes.

In our town, if you want to speak to the police, even for non emergencies, you have to go through 911. It's really hard to get used to!

 

[Pixie Tales]

I called 911 3 times..

once to report a car accident

once to save my neighbor's house from being robbed ::cop:

once because the woods nearby were on fire

 

[RSoxFan]

I called once, last year for my brother. He's allergic to nuts, and he somehow ate one night when we were playing pool. I gave him an epi-pen shot and some Benadryl, which usually does the trick, but this time it didn't help. I called 911 and two ambulances showed up within minutes. He ended up flatlining twice in the ambulance. They had to give him tons of adrenaline and steroids to open his airways back up, but he's fine now. The two of us were alone in the house, and the paramedics and firefighters stayed with me until the rest of the family got to the hospital and we knew he was going to be okay. They are the best!

 

[CourtasanSatine]

Once for a runaway horse

 

[mickeyboat]

Yes. Our car was on fire in the driveway when I was a teen. A diner in our neighborhood was on fire a couple of years ago. I saw a power line sparking ater a storm one time. I saw an accident on the highway. We had a water main break in front of our house. Once in the middle of the night when a bunch of drunks were driving cars around in the lot behind our house.

Wow!

They always respond very quickly.

Our dispatch is located right at the fire / police station, and the station is less than a mile from my house.

Denae

 

[Mono~rail]

I called 911 late last summer one night when dh was working. It was about midnight and I heard something at the back door of the living room going out to the deck. I could see the back motion security light on and I heard footsteps on the wood deck. The footsteps stopped and then I heard the door knob rattling and something banging on the window pane (it was the kind of door that has multiple panes).

I grabbed the phone and dialed 911. I asked the dispatcher to please stay on the phone with me. I walked to the window looking out to the back yard. The security light had gone off, but then it came back on again! I guess whoever it was heard my footsteps - creaky house. I was shaking and scared to death. The 911 operator stayed on the phone with me until the police arrived - it took about 3 minutes for them to show up.

They looked around our yard and didn't see anyone. They sent a few officers out to patrol the neighborhood and they found a guy walking about a block away! The guy said he was "exercising." They didn't believe him, but because they didn't see him in our yard they couldn't do anything to him (which is understandable).

A few weeks later other people started calling 911 with experiences like I had AND people were reporting a peeping tom. That went on for a few weeks then it escalated to home invasions. They finally caught the guy. I don't know if it was the same guy they found walking in my neighborhood the night I had to call or what.

At the time we lived in a small Mayberry-ish town so this stuff was front page news - literally. I think it had been going on for a while before the newspaper started printing the stories.

 

[U2_rocks!]

I've never had to make an emergency call, thank goodness, nor has anyone needed to make one for me!

I have called the police once - to report an accident that wasn't serious (no apparent injuries), and to leave my contact info because I was a witness - I wanted to call because one guy very blatantly ran a red light and hit another vehicle, and I wanted to make sure that fact was corroborated by a witness. I didn't feel comfortable staying at the scene, as it was a deserted area, I was a woman alone, and these were 2 uninjured males who might not be too happy with each other!

 

[Narnian_Princess]

I once had to call 911. My boss (who is a very tough 3x World Champion kickboxer) stepped on something in a storage room and had a small cut on the bottom of his foot. His wife got the first aid kit and made him sit down so she could bandage his foot and he wouldn't bleed all over the place. Next thing we know he's slumped over in his chair, unconscious. We're all like, what the heck? I thought he was pranking us, but then he started having a seizure. I had to call 911 but I was so scared I couldn't talk (I was 16 at the time). When he woke up he didn't remember anything, and the ER doctors never did figure out what happened.

 

[Chattyaholic]

Yes, once. We were sleeping and about 3 a.m. the smoke detector went off. We could distinctly smell an electrical burning-type smell. I wanted to call 9-1-1 immediately but DH wanted to find the source.

After a few minutes of not finding a fire, or figuring out where it was coming from DH finally said to call. They had to dispatch the fire department nearest us, and of course get the men out of their beds in their individual homes so by the time they got here it was about 15-20 minutes I think. That's one draw-back of living in the boonies.

While talking to the 9-1-1 person, she said to get out of the house but since we couldn't see any fire I went around the house gathering up stuff I didn't want to lose like photo albums! Put my cat in the cat carrier, put her in the car and backed the car (DH backed his truck out too) out to a safe place in case the house went up in smoke. But we did go back inside to keep investigating.

When the fire dept. arrived, about 6 guys I think, they couldn't find the source either and ended up calling another fire dept. for them to bring their thermal immaging machine out.

Turned out it was the compressor on the refrigerator going out!

We felt stupid, but they assured us we did the right thing.

I just kept invisioning an electrical fire smoldering in the walls or something, so it was a very nerve wracking couple of hours.

 

[TiggerPiglet]

Yes, when we were robbed and another time when someone was trying to come through my bedroom window while I was sleeping.
One time our carbon monoxide detector went off and I can't remember if I called 911 or not. I don't think I did. I think I called the main number of the fire department and explained to them what happened. They sent someone over and it turned out there was carbon monoxide in the house.

 

[ducklite]

I've done it many times. A lot when I've seen accidents happen while driving.

Once when some guy was trying to get into my house around 11:00 pm one night.

Once when the lady who lived next door fell and cut herself pretty bad.

Once to report a structure fire around 3:00 am while I was driving.

Anne

 

[MouseJunkie]

Well more than I thought apparently. I started thinking about it and realized I've called at least 3 times.

Once for a diabetic co-worker.

Another time when I hit a deer.

A third time for someone else in an accident.

 

[Danauk]

I've called 4 times

Once when I saw a bad car accident.

Once when I was at work (I'm a teacher) and had to call for a boy in my class who was having an allergic reaction.

Once when I saw a child fall off his bike and get hit by a car.

Lastly when I saw a house suddenly go up in flames.

 

[froglady]

DH & I used to live on a main road, so we called for several accidents.

I've called at least twice for my parents, and have advised others (DM & also AL workers) to call a few times. When DF fell and broke his hip, he didn't want DM to bother anyone, so she called me. That was one of the "call 911 or I will incidents."

I called for my elderly neighbor when he fell down the steps.

The response time where my parents lived before moving closer to me was so-so; not bad, but not great.

The response time in my neighborhood (where my parents ended up living, and dying) is fantastic. Probably because there is a fire station less than a mile in one direction, and a hospital less than a mile in the other. My parents apartment apt was actually between to two fire stations...1 mile in one direction, about 2 miles in the other.

They lived in a high rise, and the fire fighters would come over once a week to run up and down the stairs, so many times they were on site.

 

[IwasatWDWforamonth]

I have, and it was a nightmare,
2 years ago my mom and I were watching t.v and all of a suden we hear this loud bang, my mom goes downstairs and the basement is full of smoke and screams for me to call 911 so I do and say what happened and said I think the house might be on fire, he says im not doing anything until I talk to your mom,I was like HUH? my mom was outside at that point trying to see if she could see flames anywhere, meanwhile im screaming for her, and pleading with him to send somebody and then my mom came back in and talked to him, he thought I was 8 years old and thats why he wouldnt do anything.

It turns out our furnace had backfired and it needed to be fixed but nothing was ever on fire,

It gives me nightmares thinking of the next time something happens and they wont listen to me.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I've called 911 twice

Once to report a wreck in our front yard

Another time when DW's identity was stolen. We called the sherriff's office to report it and were directed byh the operator there to call 911 . No emergency, but we just needed to get the crime on the record.