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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Screenwriting
911 Emergency Calls
One of the stories I'm working on has a couple calls to 911, and I'm working on the dialogue, but I've never actually placed a 911 call myself, so I have to go by what I've seen and read.
What I'm curious about is whether there's some standard initial greeting used by the 911 operators.
"911 - What's your emergency?"
"911 - Please state the nature of your emergency."
"911 - How can I help you?"
or something else...
Is it up to the local operator to decide, or do they have a scripted opening line they're supposed to use?
For some reason, I'm afraid to call 911 here in my area just to see what they say. I could always say "Oops, wrong number, I meant to dial 411," or something, but I'm reluctant to do it. I think maybe it's because I got in trouble when I was a kid for making prank calls to the operator or something.
I've also thought of calling 911 and just being honest with the operator and asking them the same question as above, but I feel like it would be wasting their time because it's not a real emergency, and they might get mad at me. Hmm..
Elroy Willis
www.elroysemporium.com
What I'm curious about is whether there's some standard initial greeting used by the 911 operators.
"911 - What's your emergency?"
"911 - Please state the nature of your emergency."
"911 - How can I help you?"
or something else...
Is it up to the local operator to decide, or do they have a scripted opening line they're supposed to use?
For some reason, I'm afraid to call 911 here in my area just to see what they say. I could always say "Oops, wrong number, I meant to dial 411," or something, but I'm reluctant to do it. I think maybe it's because I got in trouble when I was a kid for making prank calls to the operator or something.
I've also thought of calling 911 and just being honest with the operator and asking them the same question as above, but I feel like it would be wasting their time because it's not a real emergency, and they might get mad at me. Hmm..
Elroy Willis
www.elroysemporium.com
Top answer
I would call - or better, go to your local police station and ask for info. Also, having used 911 (not recently) I can tell you that if you ask for medical assistance, they send not only an ambulance but the police also, so your house gets kind of crowded. And if you hang up on your 911 call, they send all of the above anyway.
- I would call - or better, go to your local police station and ask for info.
- Also, having used 911 (not recently) I can tell you that if you ask for medical assistance, they send not only an ambulance but the police also, so your house gets kind of crowded.
- And if you hang up on your 911 call, they send all of the above anyway.
- (a guest went into diabetic shock at my house a couple of years ago, found his parents after calling for help).
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18 Answers
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I would call - or better, go to your local police station and ask for info. Also, having used 911 (not recently) I can tell you that if you ask for medical assistance, they send not only an ambulance but the police also, so your house gets kind of crowded. And if you hang up on your 911 call, they send all of the above anyway. (a guest went into diabetic shock at my house a couple of years ago, fo
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@reader2.panix.com:
[nq:1]One of the stories I'm working on has a couple calls to 911, and I'm working on the dialogue, but ... it would be wasting their time because it's not a real emergency, and they might get mad at me. Hmm..[/nq]
First of all, as with all scripted phone conversations, you need to establish whether that scene is necessary to your plot, or if it just brings your script
[nq:1]One of the stories I'm working on has a couple calls to 911, and I'm working on the dialogue, but ... it would be wasting their time because it's not a real emergency, and they might get mad at me. Hmm..[/nq]
First of all, as with all scripted phone conversations, you need to establish whether that scene is necessary to your plot, or if it just brings your script
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[nq:1]Elroy Willis wrote[/nq]
[nq:2]One of the stories I'm working on has a couple ... real emergency, and they might get mad at me. Hmm..[/nq]
[nq:1]First of all, as with all scripted phone conversations, you need to establish whether that scene is necessary to your ... the information delivered during that scene useful at all, or is it simply done to establish a sense of urgency?[/nq]
[nq:2]One of the stories I'm working on has a couple ... real emergency, and they might get mad at me. Hmm..[/nq]
[nq:1]First of all, as with all scripted phone conversations, you need to establish whether that scene is necessary to your ... the information delivered during that scene useful at all, or is it simply done to establish a sense of urgency?[/nq]
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[nq:2]First of all, as with all scripted phone conversations, you ... is it simply done to establish a sense of urgency?[/nq]
[nq:1]It doesn't bring it to a screeching halt, but it's something I've wondered about, realistically, and wanted to get anything I include to be as realistic as possible.[/nq]
But is it essential to your plot?
[nq:2]In case of the former but not the latter, you
[nq:1]It doesn't bring it to a screeching halt, but it's something I've wondered about, realistically, and wanted to get anything I include to be as realistic as possible.[/nq]
But is it essential to your plot?
[nq:2]In case of the former but not the latter, you
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[nq:2]In case of the former but not the latter, you ... for information. "Oops, wrong number" probably won't cut it either.[/nq]
[nq:1]What do you think would happen? They might send out a police car for an admitted wrong number?[/nq]
Depending on how big a town you're in you might be able to just walk in and talk to the dispatch folks. I know you can here in Woodstock, NY they've got so m
[nq:1]What do you think would happen? They might send out a police car for an admitted wrong number?[/nq]
Depending on how big a town you're in you might be able to just walk in and talk to the dispatch folks. I know you can here in Woodstock, NY they've got so m
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If you haven't heard this already, there's a hilarious audio of a man trapped in a phone booth who has picked up a "dead" deer by the side of the road which wasn't really dead and came to life in his car and bit him on the neck, and a dog has him cornered in the booth cause the dog wants the deer. It's supposed to be real. The 911 guy just answers "Emergency." He then tries in vain to find
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[nq:1]If you haven't heard this already, there's a hilarious audio of a man trapped in a phone booth who has ... injured and where he is located. "Im in the *** phone booth!" Snopes says the validity of it is undetermined.[/nq]
I think Snopes would say the same thing about me most of the time.
Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life. Lawrence Kasda
I think Snopes would say the same thing about me most of the time.
Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life. Lawrence Kasda
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1. Don't call 9-1-1 it's for emergencies, not research.
2. Every agency sets its own policies, and different shifts may havedifferent standards and every calltaker has his or her own personal style.
3. Do you not watch television? Every newscast, magazine and talk showplays 9-1-1 calls all the time.
4. The response to every 9-1-1 call will vary, depending on localpolicies, local resour
2. Every agency sets its own policies, and different shifts may havedifferent standards and every calltaker has his or her own personal style.
3. Do you not watch television? Every newscast, magazine and talk showplays 9-1-1 calls all the time.
4. The response to every 9-1-1 call will vary, depending on localpolicies, local resour
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[nq:1]If you haven't heard this already, there's a hilarious audio of a man trapped in a phone booth who has ... in the *** phone booth!" Snopes says the validity of it is undetermined. You can listen to it here: http://www.snopes.com/critters/farce/deaddeer.htm[/nq]
Sounds fake to me.
Sounds fake to me.
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[nq:2]Jacques E. Bouchard wrote in misc.writing.screenplays.moderated It doesn't bring it ... get anything I include to be as realistic as possible.[/nq]
[nq:1]But is it essential to your plot?[/nq]
The calls are important and essential, but not necessarily some actual dialogue. I could just say Joe called 911 and a police car arrives a few minutes later, leaving out any actual dialogue. I
[nq:1]But is it essential to your plot?[/nq]
The calls are important and essential, but not necessarily some actual dialogue. I could just say Joe called 911 and a police car arrives a few minutes later, leaving out any actual dialogue. I
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