I need to share something IMPORTANT...

[Ex-MA Hole]

IT'S OK TO DIAL 9-1-1 FOR YORESELF.
IT'S OK TO DIAL 9-1-1 FOR YOU'RESELF.
IT'S OK TO DIAL 9-1-1 FOR YOORSELF.

(Did the intentional typos get your attention?

...howdy...I need to share something with all of you nimrods...out of love...I just read a story of a chap that woke his wife to take him to the ER instead of calling 9-1-1 like he should have...

I had a similar issue...A couple of years back I collapsed and came to  on the floor with my Border collie licking my face...I stayed there until I was able to get the strength and the memory to dial my Wife's cell, then she had to come 20 minutes home to see WTF I was talking about, then, rather than wait for the 25 minutes for the Ambulance drove me to the ER....O2 level was 89...Double ear infection...upper respiratory infection...strep...bronchitis...I was in great shape...

I had fallen and taken the cordless with me...it was on the couch and I had hit it on the way down....

When I was at the ER, the nurse told me I should have just dialed 9-1-1 instead of saving up my strength to call my wife and waste more time...

I told her the thought never crossed my mind...she said it wouldn't...we always think that we will run into a room, see a loved one in distress and dial 9-1-1...we NEVER think to dial it for ourselves...

God forbid you are ever in a situation where you NEED treatment STAT, I'm hoping that you may hear my voice in the back of head and think "Hey, I'm not slow, I can dial 9-1-1 all by myself."

Fistful, in case you need help, the number to 9-1-1 is 9-1-1.

No, it's not unlisted.

Yes, they lied to you.

Stop calling them for your hangnails, please.

[makattak]

Stop calling them for your hangnails, please.

Or other non-emergencies:

http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2007/05/dispatchers-dont-get-paid-enough.html

[Sergeant Bob]

Glad you're alright Mark. You're right about the tendency to call anyone but 911, I called my dispatcher instead.
Thanks for the wake-up !

[Boomhauer]

Sorry, it's almost always faster to have one of the family members take you to the hospital here. 911 is going to take at least an hour to respond. Heck, we had to call 911 a few months ago and they ARGUED with us about which county we were in instead of dispatching the damned service. They insisted we were in one county when we're right across the border and are in another.

[BlueStarLizzard]

i called 9-1-1 when i was little once. well, i was like 8 or 9. i was making candles in the stove (yeah, probably a no no but i would do that crap all the time and my parents wern't home to say no so.... and i knew enough to clean up after so they wouldnt' know) and i got burned.

so i called 9-1-1 cause it hurt bad and i didn't know what to do. it was a minor burn, the paremedic that showed up just cleaned it.  they thought i was pretty cute. a cop showed up too.

you'd have thought i would have gotten reamed but i didn't. neither did my parents. i think the cop said something about me being smart to call for help when i got into a jam.

[makattak]

Sorry, it's almost always faster to have one of the family members take you to the hospital here. 911 is going to take at least an hour to respond. Heck, we had to call 911 a few months ago and they ARGUED with us about which county we were in instead of dispatching the damned service. They insisted we were in one county when we're right across the border and are in another.

I think someone might disagree with you on that:

http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=17513.msg325677#msg325677

[AJ Dual]

Well, the first/last time I had an Ambulance ride this summer, I woke up with EMT's yelling at me and giving me a sternum rub.

I wasn't in on any debate to call 911 or not.

[Scout26]

I just read a story of a chap that woke his wife to take him to the ER instead of calling 9-1-1 like he should have...

Why is everyone looking at me......

[Perd Hapley]

Fistful, in case you need help, the number to 9-1-1 is 9-1-1.

Crap.  I wish you had told me that last week, when I had that hang nail.  I had to drive to the ER all by myself.     

[vaskidmark]

If you are going to dial 9-1-1 for yourself and you are at home alone, try to have the courtesy to unlock the door for the ambulance crew, and advise the dispatcher which door you unlocked.  If you do not want to leave the door unlocked, throw out a housekey attached to a lightstick/marker flag - and again dvise the dispatcher about where to look for it and what colors the lightstick/flag are.  It beats the wait while the dispatcher tries to get your permission to bust down the door and you are out cold on the floor.

Yes, in the midst of having an anaphalactic reaction I dialed 9-1-1 as I stumbled to the door and threw it wide open.  The ambulance guys found me still hanging on the the doorknob with one hand, and my list of ailments. implanted devices and meds in the other hand.  The phone was on the floor.

9-1-1 is on speed-dial on all my phones.  Instead of a phone in every room I carry one around and leave it next to me wherever I am - yes, even in the throne room.  Google up "straining and heart disease".  It does not take much to push the ticker over the edge.

It's NINE ONE ONE if you need an ambulance or the cops.  NINE ELEVEN refers to the plane crash stuff.  Don't confuse the two.

stay safe.

skidmark

[Monkeyleg]

OK, here's a really dumb story.

My late father-in-law had heart trouble. One day he felt a heart attack coming on, and told MIL. He wanted her to drive him to the hospital, but she didn't want to drive. She wanted to call an ambulance.

He didn't want to pay for an ambulance.

They argued for hours about how to get him to the hospital! Finally MIL called my wife, and wife said, "call a %-%+#)% ambulance!"

Sheesh.

[Parker Dean]

I don't have a problem with dialing 9-1-1 for myself. Especially since no one is going to just find me. Well, maybe the landlord looking for the rent but then that'll be way too late. Probably by a few months.

A few years back I awoke about 3:30am with the feeling that it would be a very good idea to get my butt on the pot before a nasty mess was made. I had no sooner sat down than the feeling turned to nausea that also indicated an imminent explosion. So I prepared to vomit and then that feeling backed off leaving me weak. I sat on the edge of the tub awaiting further developments when I noticed adrenaline rushes and I got it into my head that I couldn't feel my heartbeat and was also feeling woozy. I decided that I may have only a few seconds before I was out and that I had to call 9-1-1 Now. I didn't make it to the phone. I only took about three steps and figured that all I would be able to do when I got to the phone was to sweep it off onto the floor, let alone dial 3 numbers. Instead I laid down in the hall for a while, I have no idea how long, and when I started having somewhat coherent thoughts again I went back to bed. Still don't know what all that was about, but it whooped my ass for a good six months and was at least a year before I felt reasonably normal again.

Point is, I did make the decision to call but lacked the ability when I thought it was evident that I needed help. Don't know what you could do about that short of a Star Trek TNG style comm badge and even then you'd have to have it on you.

[Perd Hapley]

Don't know what you could do about that short of a Star Trek TNG style comm badge and even then you'd have to have it on you.

That tech came out a while back, before TNG I think.  "Help!  I've fallen and I can't get up!"

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

It's NINE ONE ONE if you need an ambulance or the cops.  NINE ELEVEN refers to the plane crash stuff.  Don't confuse the two.

Hmmm... you know, I'll bet that a few people have died while trying to contact 911 because they couldn't find the "11" key.

[Perd Hapley]

I thought nine-eleven was that super-awesome gun that makes bad guys flip over backwards. 

[BridgeRunner]

I called 911 when I was about ten because a bunch of kids/teens were stealing bikes out of our shed.

Then I went out and chased them off myself.

It may be argued that I had more guts than sense at that point, but hey, I was ten, and I didn't want to lose my bike!  The police recovered everything though, before they got more than a couple blocks away.

As an adult, the only time I needed to call 911, I was already driving, had no cellphone, and the hospital was between me and my destination, so I was driving towards it anyway.  I did kind of wish that I'd get pulled over, because my driving was scary bad.  Then when I got there I went and parked instead of using the valet.  This is because I'm still an idiot and haven't learned much since I was ten.

[MechAg94]

9-1-1 is on speed-dial on all my phones.  Instead of a phone in every room I carry one around and leave it next to me wherever I am - yes, even in the throne room.  Google up "straining and heart disease".  It does not take much to push the ticker over the edge.

Dumb question.  How many buttons do you have to push to activate the 911 speed dial versus just dialing 911? 

[Balog]

On the last few phones I've had 9 was a preset speed dial for 911.

[PTK]

Speed dialing 911 = 2 buttons vs. 3. It does save SOME time.

[Tallpine]

All this assumes that you are anywhere near a phone and/or have cellphone service 

Also assumes you are more afraid of whatever is happening at the moment than you are of doctors ....

[PTK]

Or at least more afraid of the medical condition than the doctors' bills.

[Tallpine]

Or at least more afraid of the medical condition than the doctors' bills.

There is that, too.   

Anyway, if I'm still conscious, it's probably not bad enough to call 911 

[PTK]

Good to know I'm not the only stubborn one. I once drove myself to the hospital when my blood-potassium level was 2.4 or so and I was going into some kind of shock. Another time, I drove myself to the hospital while having a BP of 196/113 and 130+ BPM. FUN TIMES. 

[KD5NRH]

Another time, I drove myself to the hospital while having a BP of 196/113 and 130+ BPM. FUN TIMES.

Well, if you'd been in Dallas, they'd have asked what you were doing at the hospital.  A lower pulse or BP in that traffic means you're not paying attention. 

[S. Williamson]

I drove myself to the hospital while having a BP of 196/113 and 130+ BPM.

PTK =