4 Year Old Calls 911

[pmcd9]

[STORY]

It may be due to lack of sleep, but when I heard this boys voice on the news this morning, talking to the 911 operator I was overwhelmed with happiness.  Somebody nice, this occured in Faribanks so I guess you didn't respond to the call?

[linnea]

Heheh, nope, I ain't live in the North Pole. Several of my friends went to college in Fairbanks, though.

OMG. That is the BEST STORY EVER. What a sweet little guy!! I'm getting a little choked up. That is an awesome, awesome story.

Y'know...there is a shocking percentage of adults don't know how to describe their building as well as that little kiddo. A lot of people mistakenly assume we have e-911 (enhanced 911) and can automatically tell where their physical location is. We don't have e911.

The only time I've had to call 911 as a "civilian" (i.e., without a radio to call dispatch and ask for an ambulance) was when I was 18 or 19. I was at a friend's house with a bunch of other friends in the summertime. It was late at night, but it was gorgeous outside, and as we were leaving to walk to a nearby grocery store I noticed a car idling outside one of the buildings. I thought it was a little strange because it was summer, not the middle of winter, so there would be zero need to warm up your car. I brushed it off, and we kept on to the grocery store.

When we came back the same car was still idling. We were too scared to go up and see what was wrong, but I could see a guy slumped over the steering wheel. (Kids, the #1 rule is to never enter a scene until it's declared "safe"). I was very scared and all my friends were just shocked. I said, "you guys, we HAVE to call 911.) One of my friends said, "I'm not getting involved." I ignored him and tried to calm down so that I could place a coherent call. I was pissed because I remembered the story of Kitty Genovese, the woman in New York who was stabbed to death in full view of her neighbors, because nobody wanted to "get involved" and call for help, or even lift a finger to help her.

I picked up the phone and tried to get a clear mental picture of all the info that the dispatcher would need. Dialing the numbers was really scary. I got on the phone with the dispatcher and after a bunch of stammering, asked for an ambulance cuz there was a guy slumped over his steering wheel, car still idling, and he'd been there for at least 45 minutes since I noticed the vehicle.

I think that the dude was just drunk and passed out, but I have no way of knowing. I don't know if he was okay, but I feel good knowing that I was able to get him some help.

----------------------------------------------------------

4-year-old aided mom by dialing 911

COLLAPSE: He knew what to do from a book his grandmother gave him.

Daily News staff

Published: April 30, 2007
Last Modified: May 1, 2007 at 02:10 AM

FAIRBANKS -- A preschooler knew to call 911 when his mother collapsed and lost consciousness, thanks to a children's book his grandmother had sent several months earlier.

Tony Sharpe was home in North Pole with his mother, Courtenay, on April 10 when she blacked out during a gall bladder attack.

The 4-year-old went to the phone and reached the North Star Volunteer Fire Department by dialing the emergency number.

He told a dispatcher: "Mommy is sick. Mommy needs an ambulance. Mommy fell over. She is sleeping," according to a recording of the call.

"Can you call the ambulance?" he continued. "When Daddy gets here, Daddy will see if there's something wrong with mommy."

The boy then described the family's apartment building, which is white with a blue roof.

Courtenay Sharpe was conscious and barely able to speak when firefighters arrived.

Her son had practiced dialing 911 countless times in one of his favorite books, "It's Time to Call 911: What to do in an Emergency." The interactive book rewards its reader with a blast of emergency sirens and a cheery "good job" when 911 is punched into the keypad.

"You know kids," Courtenay Sharpe said, "once they latch onto a book, they want the same story read to them over and over again. After awhile, he pretty much knew the book by heart."

The boy will be honored in May by the fire department in Fairbanks with a T-shirt, a plaque and a ride on a fire engine.

His parents rewarded him with a much-wanted puppy, Bear, an 8-month-old golden retriever and Labrador mix adopted from an animal shelter.

[slink]

This ain't nothing...
Though this is just a bit fucked up.

[side_show]

You gotta know that little boy was just totally keeping his fingers crossed that he'd get to call the real 911 one day.  Sometimes dreams do come true.

As for slink's post... The article is disturbing.  The girl probably saved her own life, but you've also gotta' wonder if this has fucked her up in a big way.  There is no mention of how she or the rest of her family are doing.  Hopefully they're all alright.  It sounds extremely traumatic.

[slink]

As for slink's post... The article is disturbing.  The girl probably saved her own life, but you've also gotta' wonder if this has fucked her up in a big way.  There is no mention of how she or the rest of her family are doing.  Hopefully they're all alright.  It sounds extremely traumatic.

I don't know. I had killed five people by the time I was nine.
We haven't qute checked the validity of that article, but they do seem to tell of her shooting and killing these people without any real question as to how it might have left her...

[side_show]

I don't know. I had killed five people by the time I was nine.

Is there a story here that you want to tell us?

We haven't qute checked the validity of that article, but they do seem to tell of her shooting and killing these people without any real question as to how it might have left her...

Also: http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/homeinvasion.asp

Sound fairly bogus to me.

[jaydub]

Presumably in better shape than the robbers' earlier victim.

[V-Adore]

Yeah, that's not looking rigorously documented, and it seems unlikely that something like that would have gotten absolutely no report on the Internet besides the same article being reprinted over and over, with no geographical information at all.

[slink]

Regardless of validity, I'm still waiting for Bill O'Reilly to go batshit insane about it.

[pmcd9]

This was a thread about a beautiful thing that happened in Alaska.  It's ruined now.

[V-Adore]

Right. So, how perfect is the ending where the kid gets a puppy for it? (A: Extremely perfect.)

[side_show]

In Montana, you only get a puppy if you can prove you are fully capable of executing the Old Yeller maneuver when the time comes.  That is how it is in Montana.

[linnea]

Right. So, how perfect is the ending where the kid gets a puppy for it? (A: Extremely perfect.)

Quoted for truth. And to the rest of you haters, you'd better respect the 49th state!

Also, I got yelled at by my boss today, which was awesome. That is all I have to report from the 49th state.

[Teatime]

Did s/he physically scream? I have never seen this happen.