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911 systems choking on non-emergency calls

EMS Dispatch Equipment Article

August 07, 2008
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911 systems choking on non-emergency calls

By Alex Johnson
MSNBC 

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — Which of these is an emergency?

  • A Subway sandwich shop in Florida leaves the mayo and mustard off a customer’s order.
  • A Texas man can’t get a cab.
  • A Tennessee man’s stepfather keeps nagging him to do the laundry.

To hear callers to 911 emergency lines tell it, all are.

Eddie Mitchell, a 911 dispatcher in Rancho Cordova, Calif., near Sacramento, likes to tell the story of the caller who demanded to know why the Transportation Department hadn’t mowed the grass. Another wanted to know how to use his cell phone.

“We’ve had people call in asking us to bring them milk,” Mitchell said.

Full Story: Large, small cities plagued by frivolous calls


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