Should we be able to opt out of 9-1-1 service?

[RB TexLa]

How hard is it to write down or program in the numbers of the police department, fire department and your ambulance service?

[napi21]

1. Why in the world would you want to? n/t

[for-q-bush]

2. No. Others in the house may need it.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. How do you mean "opt out?"

If you would rather call the police, fire or ambulance directly, then do so. 911 provides an easy to remember, easy to dial connection to trained emergency dispatchers. Would your 4 year old child be able to remember and use three different seven (ten, in some area codes) digit telephone numbers in a crisis?

[DRoseDARs]

4. I'm going to take a wild guess and say my thread prompted this one. I voted 'No'

Look, I think it's great that states require by law that the telcos provide E911 service. My problem is that I'm being charged for it whether I use it or not. I'm perfectly fine with being charged on a per call basis, but a monthly fee? On a pay-as-you-go account? Even if I never call 911? Fuck that. :thumbsdown:

[RB TexLa]

6. It was your thread that prompted this one. I've paid for it every month on all my phones.

have never called it and never will.

[DRoseDARs]

7. Never say never. Don't you watch movies? This is how it always starts... n/t

:P

[RB TexLa]

9. If I need the police I'd call the police. Doesn't really matter, I'm sure I'd tell them whatever

it is and they'd just reply "I don't care."

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. To call the cops for a NON EMERGENCY call it is another nunmber

an emergency involves the E911 system

By the by, if this is life or property they will not tell you we don't care

In fact, they have to respond TO EVERY CALL... you ignorant TWIT

[endthewar]

28. Actually, you can call 911 for a non-emergency

like say, to inquire about traffic across a bridge like one candidate's brother. :rofl:

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. Oh my why did I forget that ONE!

thanks for the reminder...

:evilgrin:

[pnwmom]

15. You can't say it will never be called. Someone could call it for you. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. You sure you will never use the E911 service?

what you don't live in the same country as the rest of us?

And if you drove by an accident you'd not call?

What if a fellow worker fell down unconscious?

There are days...

[WolverineDG]

10. We're all being charged for it

whether we use it or not. I pay property taxes which are used to fund the school districts. I don't get out of paying those because I don't have kids.

dg

[Javaman]

12. I don't have kids but yet I pay school taxes, willingly so. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Let me see, you use roads? You use schools?

what no kids in school, why should you pay for that?

JEEBUSSS AGE... the RIGHT WING Libertarian talking points are unfrigging amazing round these parts!

[RB TexLa]

29. No kids but I don't mind paying for schools or roads. And the 9-1-1 system recieves tax dollars

from other sources than the tax on the phone bill. Or maybe not. People who don't want it can save a dollar or so on their phone bill. No reason they shouldn't be allowed to do so.

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. It does not receive enough to support the system

and it costs far more to run it than you believe

Short sighted in the extreme and ahem libertarian

I have said this before... look at Somalia... that is the kind of place libertarian thinking results in

[DRoseDARs]

34. How nice of you to resort to insults, saying I'm spouting "RIGHT WING Libertarian talking points"

Ever heard of the phrase "cost of business"? AT&T can absorb the cost of running E911 service without stiffing its customers (more). Roads and Schools have NOTHING to do with a private non-governmental business providing service.

I'm not wasting my time further with you since you spouted off insults.

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. RIGHT WING TALKING POINTS are RIGHT WING TALKING POINTS

as is the cost of E911 is much HIGHER than you pay for it every month, and I am POSITIVE you don't know that.. nor care to know it either

[DRoseDARs]

36. Presumptuous of what I do and do not know and continuing the insults. Welcome to my Ignore List. n/t

[supernova]

27. Pay as you go doesn't work

with gov't services. And yes, I do argue that gov't is obligated to provide those services.

Think about this very carefully.

Would you like to be charged every time you take a book out of the library? How about a different fee to ask the research librarian questions? How about still another fee to have the privilege of paying your taxes to the registrar's office.

How about every road you drive on a toll road?

In other countries all these pay as you go "fees." are called "bribes."

[Muttocracy]

5. So, should I memorize or program the phone numbers of dozens of volunteer fire depts

in upstate NY in case I need to call one when I travel?

And there are still people in the U.S. who use phones that are not programmable.

And I think it would be more expensive to maintain an opt-out list with numbers and locations cross-linked than to just cover every number and location.

[Xenotime]

8. What are you then supposed to do in case of rape or assult.

You are stupid for wanting to opt out.

[Incitatus]

11. I can't think of one good reason to do that.

There have been many cases where toddlers have dialed 911 and saved a family members life. Many times the person calling is panicking, maybe someone is breaking into their house, they are being attacked or a loved one has been seriously injured. You don't think clearly in situations like that. Dial 911 in an emergency has been drilled into everyone's head since they were a kid it's simple and easy to remember

[Javaman]

13. so you are out side and you see someone get hit by a car...

you need to call an ambulance, the police and possibly the fire dept, so you whip out your cell and you hunt through your phone list to find the nearest hospital, the fire dept and the police, to or...

do you just dial 911?

[ret5hd]

14. I don't 9-1-1 with you!

Another "i'm not getting enough attention" post by DU's own Bowlin' with Bolen. :rofl:

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. I know that you are a libertarian at heart

I wonder what the fuck you are doing at DU

That said... from the perspective of an EMERGENCY WORKER who also worked dispatch... NO

In an emergency you having to LOOK UP those numbers costs valuable time

For a patient who's heart has stopped that can be upwards of 60 seconds, best case... and could very well mean the difference between a successful resus and a coroner's call

[ret5hd]

21. He's not a libertarian...it's performance art for attentions sake.

[pnwmom]

17. It could be VERY HARD to use those numbers if you were in the middle of

a medical emergency, such as a stroke. There is a book called "A Stroke of Insight" where the author describes the incredibly difficult time she had making a call to get help. At least with 911 (unlike those other numbers you cite), they are prepared to deal with a caller who can't speak at all, much less give coherent information as to their name, address, and return phone number. All of those things show up automatically for 911 operators, but not the other phone numbers.

[R. P. McMurphy]

22. The fee you pay for 911 service doesn't just provide an easy-to-remember phone number.

E911 centers (a County function here in Tennessee) map the location of all addresses. When you call 911 your location (your phone number is linked to an address by the phone company) is displayed on an electronic map that shows the appropriate emergency, fire and police responder (these districts do not always coincide) that serves you. Dispatchers are trained and KNOW your area. Most people are terrible at giving directions. The dispatcher, using the mapping software, can talk emergency personnel directly to your location.

Many police officers are cross-trained to perform fire or emergency services. They carry additional equipment and oftentimes can get to you quicker than a fire truck or an ambulance. The dispatcher will get ALL appropriate personnel to you. The 911 center can keep records of people who have special needs or conditions which can greatly increase someone's chances of survival in an emergency. Using GIS (geographic information system) and automated dialing software, a 911 center can robocall people (e.g., houses in the path of a toxic cloud from a chemical spill) and warn them of harmful situations.

911 is a great thing. It is another one of those socialist services that does an incredible amount of good but the average person on the street knows nothing of the layers of protection it provides. Don't gripe about the fee. It's not that much.

[4lbs]

24. Very good summary.

I was in a car accident on the freeway about 8 years ago.

It was in rush hour traffic, we were stopped, but some guy plowed into the back of my car.

I called 9-1-1 from my cell phone and the dispatch, via triangulation and other records knew automatically who I was and approximately where I was located. She sent out a Highway Patrol officer who got there in about 3 minutes.

[4lbs]

23. What about people on vacation or business travel for a few days or weeks?

Should they be required to know the 3 phone numbers of police, fire, and medical departments where they are temporarily at, or should 9-1-1 be available for easy use?

[DemoTex]

25. No. I'll save your ass, and you'll save my sorry ass.

But we both need 9-1-1 to do it. It's like airline pilots opting out of 121.5 mHz or fighter pilots opting out of 243.0 mHz (VHF and UHF international emergency frequencies). Keep it simple: one stop shopping for emergency help.

[supernova]

26. Ridiculous

You pay for first responders salaries, training, and equipment (and in rural counties, fire and EMT are often volunteer, but they still need the equipment) and for responding to people who need it. At some point, you may need it and others' fees will be paying for the response to your trauma.

Another thing, it's entirely possible that your trauma will entail you not being able to speak, and therefore verbally give your location. It is a huge advance that first responders can map telephone numbers. That's how all these very little kids, and in some cases pets, are able to save their parents. They can't talk properly yet, they can't say their address, but they know to call 911 if something is wrong with Mommy or Daddy.

The OP is foolish, lacking in forethought and wisdom.

I've seen you post before about gov't services you think are useless. If you are so fired up about this subject, I challenge you to go homestead in Alaska, very far from any town or village. Build your own shack out of trees you cut down and hew logs from yourself. Go on. I dare you.

[FLAprogressive]

32. what the fuck kind of question is that? nt

[Hekate]

33. Are you nuts?

Just asking.

Hekate