Calling 9-1-1

Reading about Kitty Genovese and the creation of 9-1-1 has also had me thinking about the times I have used the service, or not used it, and whether I should have or not.

First of all, I have one good story. It was around 6 AM on a Saturday morning. We were all in bed and then we heard screaming, "Help I've been hit by a car."

I pulled on clothes and headed out while Mom called 9-1-1. 

Just across the street from our cul-de-sac there was a young woman on the ground. She had been out running and struck by a hit and run driver. 

The good part of the story is that many of us responded. 

I don't remember the year, but it was long ago enough that no one had cell phones. I was not the only one who had another household member calling. Someone went to tell the people at her house, and someone was helping her support her head, and I think someone else went to get a coat or a blanket. Really, there was a surplus of responders, but that's better than the other option. 

In No One Helped, an article was cited regarding the various bystander effect studies that showed when the danger level went up, people were more likely to intervene. That was taken as a sign that there was hope for humanity, that we had altruism in addition to apathy. 

I suspect that the real issue is that when the threat is clear, people know that they need to act. 

When you take emergency response training, they always tell you that you don't say "Somebody call 9-1-1!' You point and say "You! Call 9-1-1!" Doubt can really hamper action.

Doubt was also a factor in the other two situations I want to mention.

The first one was also long ago, when I did call because there was smoke next door. Only it wasn't really smoke; it was steam rising from a compost pile. I didn't know, but I should have checked with the neighbors before calling. I didn't know them well so felt awkward, but then I felt really stupid when I found out it was compost steam. Just a little awkward would have been better.

The other time I didn't call. I was downtown and there was a man sleeping on the sidewalk. Yes, we have a large homeless population that has to sleep rough, but normally they hide themselves a bit better. I was worried that it was something medical, and that he needed help. I tried asking him if he needed help, but there was no response. I asked louder; still nothing.

I ultimately left without calling anyone. I did that because he seemed to be exhausted, but not in danger. While emergency response might have helped him, there is also a good chance that they would have hassled him. 

There's no guarantee somebody else wasn't going to hassle him, but it wasn't going to be me.

I am not sure that was the right decision.

There is another situation I have never been in, but if there were someone having a mental health crisis, or not even that but just a person of color, calling 9-1-1 might very well be signing their death warrant.

We sometimes see people use that to their advantage as a scary way of harassing, but there could be times when maybe there could be reason to call, but it is still better not to.

These cases all come down to knowledge. Sometimes it is a matter of asking. "Are you okay?" "Is there something burning in your backyard?"

Sometimes it is a matter of being alert to how things work; racist abuse of power and extrajudicial killing is a thing.

We have all been there, where we heard something that we couldn't tell if it was a kid shrieking in play, or something more serious. Was that a gun or a firecracker? If there is just the one sound and then nothing, it probably doesn't need any action, but what if?

There might be times when it is our duty to find out. 

That girl who was hit, she yelled loud and she kept yelling until several people had come. We knew someone was hit. We may not have known the details, but we went to find out.