Why would the doctors swear? They have no reason to. They're not in any danger. How about the people being treated? I've done a little time in an ER, and people who are afraid, wounded, or otherwise not in a stable frame of mind say some pretty colorful things.
What branch of the Military did you serve with? Did you use profanity in your radio communications? Must have been some 'group'.
I was in the Army. OEF and OIF. Most radio communications are professional transfers of information done in non-life threatening situations. In enemy contact or when dealing with wounded, or the otherwise normal chain of events has been punctuated by death or impending death, harsh words do surface.
Is the norm to avoid profanity? Sure. Does profanitizing (Soldiers can make any noun a verb) occur under duress? All the time.
The point your missing entirely is that when a normal person is afraid for their lives, or under tremendous personal stress, they'll say things that will peel paint off the walls. It's a normal reaction. Even the most calm, stalwart professionals I know have have heated up a headset with explicit language when under duress.
A 911 dispatcher who doesn't understand this aspect of human nature should be fired, immediately, and without question. The arrogance of someone sitting at a comfortable desk and demanding people who may be dying to act politely or be refused assistance is monstrous.
You had me in full agreement, until the last paragraph. Under duress, we do say things we would not normally do. And yes, the Military does alone possess the right to make verbs, adjectives and explictives from a noun. It’s a gift, really.
But, for the 911 Dispatcher; it’s a hard defense to make, but as I do enjoy a good arguement (personality defect my wife loves to point out), it goes back to the statement that you may swear however you like - but you can’t force someone else to listen to you.
I’d be curious to know if there are 911 Dispatcher guidelines regarding this. I’m sure that there has to be something. If a person is to be fired, it should be for a willful infraction of known rules. I wish I had the transcripts as posted yesterday, as quotes are much better than my memory. But, as I recall, the first hangup was a result of profanity. The second hangup was the result of profanity, the third was a series where the Operator and caller got into a name-calling match. It went downhill from there.
Was this professionally handled? No. Is there a mountain’s worth of room for improvement? Yup. Was this handled in a way that I would have handled it? Not at all.
What should have happened? All the 911 Operator had to do is firmly insist that he will not tolerate profanity - then allow the young lady to proceed. But, then we wouldn’t have a story. And as pointed out on a previous post, this happend months ago - why is it making the news today? Could it be because she’s planning to sue?