Editorial: Call 911 For Anything?

An article in the Rosemount (Minn.) Town Pages newspaper notes that the Dakota County Communications Center is using a “Call 911″ policy for any police, fire or EMS situation, whether or not it’s an emergency. Center director Kent Therkelsen says citizens can dial the 7-digit number if they’re “uncomfortable” calling 911 for non-emergencies,” or for information calls. But he says the dispatchers are trained to triage 911 calls and determine what action to take, all without being overloaded. The policy is contrary to the policy of most other cities and counties, who educate citizens to use 911 only for life-or-death emergencies. Read the article. Read my translation of what the story might actually mean after the break.

The article quotes Therkelsen on dialing 911 for any law enforcement, fire or EMS situation. Here are his quotes and my “translation.”

“If you need someone to respond–law enforcement, fire or medical–emergency or otherwise, it’s OK to call 911.” Translation: We don’t trust citizens to figure out what number to dial, so we’re going to dump all those calls onto the 911 system, forcing dispatchers to sort out which ones are an emergency.

“Our dispatchers do a good job in determining which calls are triage (sic).” Translation: Once the dispatchers actually speak to a caller, they’re skillful in determining which ones are total baloney.

“Dispatchers skillfully evaluate each call, ensuring that we handle emergencies before lower priority calls.” Translation: While the dispatchers are performing this skillful evaluation, more calls are ringing in…and in…and in. And if it’s a non-emergency, we have to take the time to transfer the call to the local public safety agency for service.

“The (911) call is answered in five to six seconds. That is usually one ring.” Translation: After we answer within one ring, we put callers on hold. Hey, there are other calls ringing in!

– Gary Allen, Editor