Expletives Are Just Words; No Reason To Hang Up On The Dying, Mr. 911 Operator
Although I wrote a book with fuck in the title, no, I don't think it's appropriate at all times. I won't use the word around your 4-year-old or your elderly aunt.
But the word is not a weapon. It does not shoot bullets or cause stab wounds and will not physically harm you in any way.
In other words, the 911 operator who has prissy language rules is not the person who should be working as a 911 operator.
Appallingly, Matthew Sanchez, an Albuquerque 911 dispatcher, hung up on a teen who used the word "fucking" as her friend was dying.
From ABC7LA:
A 911 dispatcher resigned after allegedly hanging up on a teen who called for help after her friend was fatally shot....Quintero and Chavez-Silver, both 17, were at a party in Albuquerque earlier this month when someone drove by and opened fire. When her friend was shot, Quintero sprang into action and called 911. But she said she was also panicked.
"I had to stop his bleeding, I had to do CPR to keep him breathing and alive," she said. "I was frantic, I was scared."
On the call, Sanchez can be heard asking Quintero if Chavez-Silver is breathing.
"He's barely breathing," she responds. "How many times do I have to [expletive deleted] tell you?"
It's then that Sanchez ends the call, telling Quintero, "You could deal with yourself. I'm not going to deal with this."
Though officials told KOAT that emergency services were already on the way at that point, Quintero said she couldn't believe the way the call ended.
"I said, 'How could he do that,' and I just dropped my phone," she told KOAT.
He should have been fired on the spot. I suppose they don't want to open themselves up to a lawsuit any more than they already are, which is why he's been "transferred".
As a glorified operator with a cue card list of questions to ask and answers to give dependent on the situation, you're not the one operating under stress. And wasn't he provided training to help the people on the other end of the line to get a grip and not whig out?
Just another bureaucrat who doesn't actually give a shit about us peons. The solution: tar, feathers, some assembly required.
I R A Darth Aggie at July 29, 2015 8:24 AM
I think the situation is more complex than a guy who doesn't like F-bombs. The article states the 911-operator was a ten-year veteran of the Fire Department. I doubt this was the first time he's been cussed at.
I've utilized 911 on a few occasions in my life, and I'm grateful for those who work every single day helping people get through the Worst-Day-of-Their-Life, over and over and over again. That *is* operating under stress.
I feel compassion for both the caller and the 911-operator. I hope they will both be okay.
Mel at July 29, 2015 10:14 AM
Mel, I agree - this wasn't just some operator who didn't like to be cussed at. I would bet that there is a lot more to this story then is being reported.
Should he have hung up on her? No, of course not. But, I don't think it was that simple. I've heard part of the video and he IS trying to help and she isn't responding to his question. THAT was a part of what happened too. Should he have been able to handle a distressed caller? Yes, but, what happened up to his taking that call?
The reasons I ask these rhetorical questions is that a neighbor of mine is a 911 operator and to hear her stories is astounding. The garbage that they have to put up with is amazing. While it still doesn't make what happened here okay for him to do it does shed some light on, maybe, why he hung up. You can't help someone if they are being helpful back; if they aren't answering your questions.
Too many times my neighbor has told me that they are blamed if they take too long on a call; but, also blamed if they cut the call short. WTF? Which is the standard to go by? Too many times the operator is blamed if they get the address wrong - even if it is the one given to them by the caller. Too many times the operator is blamed if it turns out to be a false alarm (which happen more often then the public knows); yet, the operator if blamed if they don't treat EVERY call like it is the most important.
In short, there is no way I would be willing to be a 911 operator. Not for all the tea in China!
I would want hear more of this story before passing judgment on either the operator and the caller.
charles at July 29, 2015 1:47 PM
Thank you for those points Charles. A job that seems doable to an outsider may be much more difficult due to other demands that we don't know about. When your decisions are questioned constantly you learn not to trust your own judgement which is usually pretty good.
That said, I heard a long time ago that cussing at a 911 operator often happens when people are under stress because a life is at stake. Those are the calls when people need the operator the most. They may need to be talked down from their panic so that they can help the person. If they didn't want to help, they wouldn't have called.
Jen at July 29, 2015 8:21 PM
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