Hey 911, Do You Know Where I Am?
Background:
Christmas eve; I planned to drive thirty minutes to my daughter's Sister IL's house in New Jersey. Yes, another one of those failed plans. At 5:00 PM, just as Harv's aide was about to go home and we were about to attempt this outing, who should appear at the door but our physical therapist. He informed us that it would be Harv's last Medicare approved home PT session. Badaboom. We had had a misunderstanding. He had indeed told me he would be coming on Christmas, and he really meant Christmas Eve. So Harv went through all his exercises, the therapist left, and I got Harv seated on the front patio prior to walking to the car. My BIG FAT MISTAKE. [Denial] Harv was utterly exhausted after the therapy session.
Harv, who had been an aged Roger Bannister during the day, suddenly shut down in the middle of the walk to the car. It had been raining; the ground was muddy and he couldn't stand up with my help. I felt myself run out of steam and muscle power, so I called 311, which is the new non-emergency call for help in NYC. Well, I got transferred to the 911 number, but when I gave the operator my address, she told me the wrong cross streets and refused to accept my correcting her. Instead, she insisted that the police would find me. Then we heard a siren sound continuously for ten minutes but no car. So, a second call to the 911 operator, who, I think, was the same creature, because, again she refused to take note. Well, what could be more fun than listening to some ninny telling me what our two cross streets really are because that is what her computer says? And Harv was sprawled across the muddy front lawn. The siren continued to sound. Another ten minutes, and then my third 911 call, this time to a thinking person, who immediately accepted the information and promised to inform the police. Within a few minutes two knights in uniform appeared, effortlessly lifted Harv off the wet ground onto the wheelchair, and made sure we got back inside OK.
What You Can Do:
It took a call to city hall to finally correct wrong information in New York City's 911 Computer that had been there for at least 15-years. To avoid this scenario from being repeated when you need to make a 911 call in your area, you can take a proactive approach and call the appropriate authorities, typically the fire department, to check on what your local 911 Computer has for your street address, cross streets, etc.
Some localities have a special number (311) for non-emergency calls to the fire department. Other places use a regular 7-digit phone number. To find the number to call, look in your telephone book on the cover or first page for Emergency Information. Make sure the person you talk with understands that you're specifically checking on the 911 Computer data. In the above example, it was found the 311 Computer had the correct information, but the 911 Computer had the wrong cross streets listed for all of the homes on one block. By doing this before having to call 911, you're eliminating a potential 'life-or-death' situation.