Man calls 911 after wife's zipper gets stuck

KGW ^ | February 12, 2014

[SMGFan]

BEAVERTON -- Each week, Washington County posts bad examples of 911 calls in its “You called 911 for that?” campaign. The campaign is designed to draw attention to the dangers of non-emergency calls that tie up 911 lines. This week’s call really lives up to the hype. OPERATOR: 911, Police Fire and Medical. CALLER: Yeah we got a problem here. My wife is struggling in her jacket and can't get it off. I want 911 here immediately. OPERATOR: Is she not breathing? CALLER: She's alright, she just can't get her [expletive] jacket off. Just in case you were wondering, the fire department responded, rescued the woman and saved the jacket.

[bigbob]

Except, in this case, it was a “expletive jacket”

[Tax-chick]

LOL!

[ConservativeStatement]

Rumack: Well, I don't have anything to say, you've done the best you could. You really have, the best you could. You can't expect to win em all. But, I want to tell you something I've kept to myself through these years. I was in the war myself, medical corps. I was on late duty one night when they brought in a badly wounded pilot from one of the raids. He could barely talk. He looked at me and said, "The odds were against us up there, but we went in anyway, I'm glad the Captain made the right decision." The pilot's name was George Zip.

Ted Striker: George Zip said that?

Rumack: The last thing he said to me, "Doc," he said, "some time when the crew is up against it, and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to get out there and give it all they got and win just one for the Zipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Doc," he said, "but I won't smell too good, that's for sure."

Ted Striker: Excuse me doc, I got a plane to land.

[elkfersupper]

Who should they have called?

Ghostbusters. Da da da da da da da - da da da da da da da da.

[Hugin]

For even the most minor problems in life that people encounter in their daily lives they are looking to the government to solve for them.

And someone to sue.

[jocon307]

We are having the opposite problem with the new sweatshirt I got hubby for Christmas. We can’t get it to zip closed.

I was thinking of taking it to the tailor, but maybe I should just call 911. I pay taxes, right?

[sten]

why didn’t the operator explain the proper use of scissors to the caller instead of directing the fire dept?

[PLMerite]

He should have said he’d just taken Viagra and he needed to get her out of her clothes FAST!!

[Disambiguator]

I was thinking that the sarcasm tag might have been optional, apparently I was mistaken.

:^)

[Tax-chick]

I can’t keep track of when I’m being sarcastic and when I’m not. I’m in irony limbo.

[Ditter]

I hope the city sends these morons a bill.

[tioga]

No need to be insulting. -a firewoman.

[Albion Wilde]

For crying out loud. I blame the operator for sending out the firetruck, and I hope the city bills these jerks for it. They should have gone to a dry cleaner or just used a pliers, assuming they were capable of operating a simple hand tool.

[cloudmountain]

I bet that if the 911 folks had a $1000.00 fine for these non-emergencies, the STUPID calls would stop.

[Albion Wilde]

To me stories like this one are just emblematic of the growing dependence culture in this country.

In a recent storm, the tree in the back yard of one of my neighbors broke. She saw me in my yard and yelled down to me, "When are they coming to remove this?"

I asked if she was owning or renting, and she said she owned. So I told her it was her responsibility and to call her insurance agent. This woman has two adolescents and "works in international finance". She is also an Obama voter.

[Verginius Rufus]

A year or two ago there was a power outage in my neighborhood because a branch from my neighbor's tree had hit a power line. The city had to send workers out to cut some of the branches. The neighbor has a small business--a tree-trimming business.

I guess it makes sense. Other people pay him to trim their trees--but who was going to pay him to trim the tree in his own yard?

[Albion Wilde]

Other people pay him to trim their trees--but who was going to pay him to trim the tree in his own yard?

Unbelievable. This generation wouldn't have lasted a day at scout camp in the 50s.

[Ramius]

The bothersome part is that the firemen have so much time on their hands between naps and meals and naps and meals ... that they responded to this moron’s call.

They have to go, though, no matter how silly it sounds. Because as soon as they start guessing ahead of time which calls are "real" serious and which aren't... They'll start guessing wrong.

[Uncle Chip]

They respond to even the most ludicrous calls because a call is a call when budget time comes -- no matter what that call was all about.

70% of all firefighters in this country are volunteers working for volunteer fire departments. Only 30% of all firefighters are paid full time firefighters.

Few people know that.

[Ramius]

I did happen to know that. I know a few volunteer firefighters. I also have some difficulty with the way that fire departments are funded, overfunded... and the games they play with Medic-One to squeeze more taxes out of the locals. I’m not completely cynical yet though... I do appreciate having them around. When it comes to taking calls they simply can’t get into the business of second-guessing calls before they actually get there. That’s a risky way to operate. Next thing that happens they hang up on a kid for prank calling and a family dies because they didn’t believe the kid, because the kid said something wrong.

These nuisance calls should be dealt with, and beyond fines perhaps the best thing is to have some good old public humiliation. Publish the names and sound bites on the net and let their friends dole out the punishment.