Only call 911 in case of immediate danger, serious illness or injury. For minor crimes or non-emergency situations, look up the local police or fire department’s phone number. Calling 911 unnecessarily can prevent others with real emergencies from getting through.
Sometimes it is necessary to call 911 or 911 to report a crime that is occurring, a potential immediate threat, a sudden serious illness or injury to yourself or someone else, or for any number of other reasons. There are also many situations that may warrant a call to the police, hospital or fire department, but may not be emergencies. In other words, sometimes it’s not necessary to call 911 because the situation you want to report isn’t immediate, not immediately dangerous, or is too minor to require immediate police, fire, or emergency medical attention.
The 911 or emergency services number in your area exists to deal with, not surprisingly, emergency situations. An emergency in this sense can be defined as one that poses immediate danger to yourself or other people. Here are a couple of ideas for an emergency:
Someone suddenly becomes dangerously ill.
Someone crashes a car in front of you.
You notice smoke in your home or a neighbor’s.
You hear gunshots.
You see or hear about domestic violence
In these cases and numerous others, calling 911 is an entirely justifiable act.
There are times when you may just want to report the findings of a minor crime, ask a simple question, or report the theft of a small item. In these cases, instead of calling 911, you would look up the phone number for the local police or fire department in your phone book. Ask yourself if a situation can wait a few hours or if it needs to be handled right away.
The problem with calling 911 when there really isn’t an emergency is that you run the risk of taking up an operator’s time when you don’t really need them. This could, especially in a large urban or suburban area, make it more difficult for someone with a truly emergency situation to reach 911 when needed. 911 doesn’t exist to answer simple questions, it only exists to help dispatch emergency crews when needed when there is a crime, serious illness, or immediate fire danger.
Here are some examples of when not to call 911:
You notice graffiti on your house or in your neighborhood.
Have a question about the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning but don’t suspect it in your home.
You or a family member has a mild disease.
Your bike is missing when you get home.
Your pet is missing.
You suspect a neighbor may be a drug dealer or is conducting ongoing illegal business that poses no immediate threat.
You think a neighbor’s pet may be overlooked.
These types of situations should all be handled by calling during normal police or fire department hours, or by calling your doctor. The goal in determining whether or not to call 911 is to decide if your situation is truly an emergency. There are different rules for different people.
A child who is home alone and fears that a situation might be an emergency should definitely call 911. Dispatchers tend to want to take these calls even if reporting a child doesn’t really constitute an emergency. If you suspect a situation could be dangerous now or in the very near future, it’s important to call 911 instead of waiting.
On the other hand, when you know a situation isn’t immediately dangerous and won’t put anyone’s life or important property at risk, don’t call 911. Instead wait and talk to the local police, fire department, or your doctor or local hospital. Whenever you have concerns about waiting, 911 will of course answer your call and it’s important not to worry about disturbing a receptionist. It is better to be safe than sorry when there is a potential danger.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
