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To: Swordmaker
who was refusing to listen unless I comported to his idea of telephone etiquette.

...and if that was your conclusion from the transcript, you'd be wrong. What he began trying to do, which is what you always do with an upset caller, is to get her to slow down and give you the information you need. You don't just dispatch based on someone yelling an address at you. First, Lincoln Park apparently uses a phone triage system where all 911 calls go to the police department. If the police determine it's a fire or medical emergency, they then transfer the call to what is probably a central dispatch facility for fire and medical. So, you can hear the guy tell her to slow down, and she responds by cussing at him. It's not her use of language that prompts him to hang up, it's that she's being combative when he's trying to get the information. It's still not the right action to take, but if you really want to take the time to understand what happened it's important not to mischaracterise the interaction.

109 posted on 05/08/2009 1:27:57 PM PDT by ArmstedFragg (hoaxy dopey changey)
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To: ArmstedFragg
...and if that was your conclusion from the transcript, you'd be wrong. What he began trying to do, which is what you always do with an upset caller, is to get her to slow down and give you the information you need.

No, I don't think so. Listen to the recording. She gave immediate information including the address: "I need an ambulance at (address)." Except for her original comment which was a frustrated, interjectional aside not intended for him, she was on task. His reply was "Well, OK, first of all you don't need to swear over 911 ("OK") and slow down."

He could have easily, calmly said, "Please tell me why you need an ambulance."

Instead when she, more panicked escalated the demand for help, he hung upon her.

HE wanted to change to subject to proper 911 etiquette, which was not responsive to her emergency, which escalated the issue. Once she repeated the dirty word while asking for an ambulance, he did not attempt to calm her or get more information, he just hung up. That'll sure show her the error of her ways.

When she called back to find out if an ambulance was being sent or not, his response was to make the sending of emergency help conditional on her behavior and then escalated the issue by insulting her: "Are you going to swear again, you stupid ass?"

By calling her "a stupid ass," he intended to insult and belittle her, again escalating the situation, not calm her down or get useful information. When she getting even more upset, asked "Are we going to have a f**king problem?" He raised the bar even farther by telling her "No you are not going to get one!"

Never did he attempt to find out the extent of the problem. He was much more interested in his power trip of making her toe the line he wanted.

When she responded hotly, "Do you want to f**king lose your job?" he again hung up on her. This is NOT attempting to learn more information, it is getting on a high horse and pushing her buttons.

Six minutes before actually sending help because he didn't like the callers language is unconscionable.

127 posted on 05/08/2009 5:54:48 PM PDT by Swordmaker (Remember, the proper pronunciation of IE is "AAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!)
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