WEBVTT - Why Do We Call 911 in an Emergency? 0:00:03.180 --> 0:00:07.720 You're listening to Part-Time Genius, a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:11.979 Guess what, Will? 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:12.860 What's up, Mango? 0:00:13.260 --> 0:00:15.700 So I was skimming this old piece in Popular Mechanics 0:00:15.740 --> 0:00:18.600 this week, and this one line caught my eye. Did 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:21.860 you know that the vehicle from Ghostbusters, the original Ectomobile, 0:00:22.020 --> 0:00:23.300 is actually a hearse? 0:00:23.940 --> 0:00:25.260 You know, one thing I feel like I do know 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:28.220 is we've talked a lot about Ghostbusters on this show recently. 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:28.860 Have you noticed that? 0:00:29.620 --> 0:00:30.140 I have. 0:00:30.970 --> 0:00:32.770 Anyway, I guess I didn't really think about it, but 0:00:32.810 --> 0:00:35.349 that does make sense. It's got such a weird shape 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:36.229 to the car. 0:00:36.590 --> 0:00:39.400 Yeah, the director sort of souped it up. And apparently 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:42.120 the original design for the Ghostbusters car was black with 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.220 purple streaks across the doors. And then they painted it 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:48.260 white and added some other modifications. But the thing that's 0:00:48.300 --> 0:00:50.610 interesting to me is that the car isn't just a hearse. 0:00:51.030 --> 0:00:54.510 The model is actually called a combination car because hearses 0:00:54.550 --> 0:00:59.210 from the 1950s weren't just hearses. They also worked as ambulances. Hmm. 0:00:59.660 --> 0:01:03.300 According to Popular Mechanics, quote, hearses from funeral homes pulled 0:01:03.340 --> 0:01:05.950 double duty and the funeral home employees didn't have much 0:01:05.990 --> 0:01:09.370 in the way of instruction beyond drive fast because the 0:01:09.550 --> 0:01:11.810 EMT as a concept was still a few years off. 0:01:12.510 --> 0:01:14.570 So why didn't people just call 911? And we're talking 0:01:14.590 --> 0:01:15.830 about the 1950s, right? 0:01:16.790 --> 0:01:20.150 I guess 911 wasn't a national thing yet. And ambulances 0:01:20.230 --> 0:01:23.550 and EMT services hadn't really been formalized either. That really 0:01:23.569 --> 0:01:26.270 starts in the mid to late 60s. So the funeral 0:01:26.310 --> 0:01:29.090 homes already have these cars that can carry people laying down. 0:01:29.610 --> 0:01:32.569 Funeral directors are just up at all hours, and for them, 0:01:32.850 --> 0:01:35.590 it's the way to make extra money. Plus, from a 0:01:35.830 --> 0:01:38.730 more cynical perspective, if a patient doesn't make it, you've 0:01:38.750 --> 0:01:42.250 got an easy referral. According to the Journal, this paper 0:01:42.370 --> 0:01:46.479 from Ontario, Canada, quote, These ambulances not only took the 0:01:46.580 --> 0:01:49.640 injured to the hospital, they transported patients to and from 0:01:49.700 --> 0:01:52.620 nursing homes, and even gave newborn babies and their mothers 0:01:52.660 --> 0:01:55.980 a lift home. The equipment was often sparse, a stretcher, 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:59.059 a blanket, a first aid kit. And of course, in 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.800 earlier iterations, it points out, they'd have a bottle of 0:02:01.860 --> 0:02:02.900 whiskey to numb the pain. 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.130 I mean, I can't imagine, and I don't want to 0:02:06.150 --> 0:02:08.970 think about this sort of thing, but imagine your granddad 0:02:09.030 --> 0:02:11.370 falling down some stairs or something like that. The idea 0:02:11.410 --> 0:02:13.810 of calling a funeral home to help with this problem, 0:02:13.830 --> 0:02:15.430 it just feels so morbid. 0:02:15.630 --> 0:02:19.660 I know, which God is wondering, when did emergency hotlines 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:22.700 and 911 change all of that? So that's what we're 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:29.720 talking about this episode. Let's dive in. We'll see you 0:02:29.820 --> 0:02:32.260 next time. 0:02:46.610 --> 0:02:49.170 Hey there, podcast listeners. Welcome back to Part-Time Genius. I'm 0:02:49.210 --> 0:02:52.550 Will Pearson. And as always, I'm joined with my good friend, Mango. 0:02:52.810 --> 0:02:55.650 And sitting somewhere behind that big booth is our pal, Dylan. 0:02:55.870 --> 0:03:00.130 He's got a bottle of Emergency 911 sauce and seems 0:03:00.190 --> 0:03:03.860 to be pouring it on everything he's eating back there. 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:05.919 What's he got back there? If I were doing that, 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:09.380 I would be sweating. I don't see one drop of 0:03:09.419 --> 0:03:11.680 sweat on the guy. But he's got, I mean, it 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:15.150 looks like he's got a burrito, a hot dog. I 0:03:15.389 --> 0:03:16.730 think that's a Cobb salad. 0:03:16.770 --> 0:03:18.070 Cobb salad? Here's the weirdest part, Mango. 0:03:18.350 --> 0:03:22.300 I spot a banana, but what are you doing, Dylan? 0:03:22.500 --> 0:03:24.400 I'm so glad he also has a big jug of 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:26.760 milk back there to calm it all down, or else 0:03:26.900 --> 0:03:30.239 we'd have to call 911. But speaking of 911, which 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.480 translates as emergency to us these days, why don't you 0:03:33.500 --> 0:03:35.619 give us a rundown on how that number came to be? 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:37.880 Well, as you said at the top of the show here, 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:41.120 911 is a relatively modern thing nationally. I think that 0:03:41.150 --> 0:03:43.250 was the thing that surprised me most as we started 0:03:43.290 --> 0:03:47.270 looking into it. But It actually wasn't until 1967 that 0:03:47.290 --> 0:03:51.690 the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice 0:03:51.810 --> 0:03:55.590 recommended that, quote, a single number should be established. And 0:03:55.610 --> 0:03:58.630 this would be nationwide and would be for reporting any 0:03:58.750 --> 0:04:00.070 emergency situations. 0:04:00.770 --> 0:04:03.330 So what happened before that? I mean, other than calling 0:04:03.370 --> 0:04:06.810 up like, you know, your local funeral director, which everyone 0:04:06.850 --> 0:04:08.110 obviously has on speed dial. 0:04:08.530 --> 0:04:11.330 That's exactly right. Well, there used to be different numbers 0:04:11.390 --> 0:04:14.390 for different kinds of emergencies, and we will get to that. 0:04:14.470 --> 0:04:18.410 But back in 1967, the FCC met with the American 0:04:18.490 --> 0:04:22.980 Telephone and Telegraph Company. We know them today as AT & T. Actually, 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:24.560 that was another thing I learned. I didn't know that 0:04:24.580 --> 0:04:27.160 that's what that had stood for. But to find a 0:04:27.220 --> 0:04:30.500 means of establishing a universal emergency number that could be 0:04:30.620 --> 0:04:34.640 implemented super quickly. So in 1968, AT & T announced 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:38.859 that it would establish the digits 911 as the emergency 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:42.430 code throughout the United States. But weirdly, it wasn't until 0:04:42.450 --> 0:04:47.010 the Public Safety Act of 1999, Mango, 1999, we were 0:04:47.029 --> 0:04:50.980 in college at the time, that 911 was officially established 0:04:51.100 --> 0:04:53.660 as the nation's emergency calling number. 0:04:54.270 --> 0:04:56.330 That is insane that it took that long. 0:04:56.370 --> 0:04:58.790 Yeah, it was actually Bill Clinton who signed the law 0:04:58.830 --> 0:05:02.280 ensuring that the FCC controlled 9-1-1 and that it had 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.000 a budget to oversee the number, which is when it 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:07.460 became officially the law of the land. 0:05:08.060 --> 0:05:10.810 But people were calling 9-1-1 for decades before that, right? 0:05:11.370 --> 0:05:14.370 Yeah, so the first 9-1-1 call actually took place in 0:05:14.430 --> 0:05:18.650 my home state in Haleyville, Alabama. This was in 1968. 0:05:18.650 --> 0:05:22.599 And it's still celebrated today, and do I mean celebrated. 0:05:22.620 --> 0:05:24.940 You know, we have all sorts of weird things. You know, 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.520 we've got the big statue to the boll weevil in Enterprise, Alabama. 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:31.180 We love celebrating our super weird things there. But there's 0:05:31.220 --> 0:05:35.960 a sign there that says, Haleyville, where 9-1-1 began, which 0:05:35.980 --> 0:05:38.990 is such a weird thing. But there are also banners 0:05:39.050 --> 0:05:42.089 hanging from streetlights that have the town seal on it 0:05:42.529 --> 0:05:46.080 that shows this red phone receiver and the words, Home 0:05:46.170 --> 0:05:48.830 of 911. Again, it just feels like a really weird 0:05:48.870 --> 0:05:52.690 message to send. But also, there's literally a 911 festival 0:05:52.730 --> 0:05:55.410 in Haleyville every June. So I don't know if you've 0:05:55.430 --> 0:05:56.229 booked your tickets yet. 0:05:56.370 --> 0:05:58.590 I haven't. I mean, I'm not sure that the Home 0:05:58.610 --> 0:06:01.320 of 911 is really that big a draw for me. 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:04.180 I know it feels weird to want to go to 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:07.160 somewhere where they have so many emergencies. But I am 0:06:07.260 --> 0:06:10.320 curious about this festival. How do you celebrate a phone number? 0:06:10.910 --> 0:06:12.589 Well, if you think about it, there are some things 0:06:12.630 --> 0:06:16.400 to celebrate. Like really, it's a festival to celebrate first responders. 0:06:16.460 --> 0:06:19.020 So that's pretty great. They obviously work super hard, save 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:23.620 a lot of lives. There's a parade, some first responder awards. Also, 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:25.760 given where it is, there's a tractor show. So that's 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:28.260 the fun part too. And then obviously, there's got to 0:06:28.300 --> 0:06:30.550 be a cornhole tournament to sort of round things out. 0:06:31.790 --> 0:06:32.770 That sounds perfect. 0:06:33.370 --> 0:06:37.130 But the history is pretty interesting. So back in the 1960s, 0:06:37.490 --> 0:06:40.810 there were all these regional telephone companies. So when AT & 0:06:40.290 --> 0:06:43.289 T and the FCC decided the three numbers to use 0:06:43.350 --> 0:06:47.270 would be 911, the president of the Alabama telephone company, 0:06:47.300 --> 0:06:50.360 his name was Bob Gallagher, read about the decision and 0:06:50.420 --> 0:06:54.020 was upset that independent carriers were left out of the conversation. 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:58.300 So he basically rushed to establish a 911 system as 0:06:58.420 --> 0:07:01.560 fast as possible. Basically, he wanted to beat AT & 0:07:00.980 --> 0:07:03.520 T to the punch, and it took less than a 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:07.690 week to set up. And on February 16th, 1968, the 0:07:07.750 --> 0:07:11.610 red emergency phone in Haleyville rang for the first time. 0:07:12.490 --> 0:07:15.770 I love that there's actually like a red phone there. 0:07:15.810 --> 0:07:16.490 It's amazing. 0:07:16.650 --> 0:07:19.830 It's literally on the town seal and all those banners. 0:07:19.890 --> 0:07:22.330 And it's also, it is weird to me, like before 0:07:22.410 --> 0:07:25.050 looking into all of this, I actually did not know 0:07:25.130 --> 0:07:27.230 that this all started in my home state. 0:07:27.770 --> 0:07:30.610 That's wonderful. Well, what number would you call if you 0:07:30.630 --> 0:07:34.240 had an emergency like one year before that in 1966? 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:36.900 Well, up until that point, people would just dial zero 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:39.410 and then they would tell the operator. Sometimes we forget 0:07:39.530 --> 0:07:42.550 about that, right? The existence of operators. And you can 0:07:42.570 --> 0:07:46.070 imagine this was a pretty stressful situation. So the telephone 0:07:46.130 --> 0:07:50.730 company operators weren't necessarily trained on these emergency services, but 0:07:50.790 --> 0:07:53.580 phone lines had been the go-to for reporting emergencies since 0:07:53.620 --> 0:07:57.200 the early 1900s. So way back, the founders of the 0:07:57.220 --> 0:08:01.980 communications giant Ericsson actually developed a portable phone handset and 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:04.670 this crank that could be hooked to these like bare 0:08:04.750 --> 0:08:08.130 phone wires, and you'd actually place these two metal hooks 0:08:08.230 --> 0:08:11.520 inside it over these telephone wires to form the connection. 0:08:11.980 --> 0:08:14.280 and then crank the hand box to create a signal 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.840 that would hopefully be answered by someone on the line. 0:08:16.860 --> 0:08:18.520 This seems like a lot to figure out in these 0:08:18.620 --> 0:08:19.700 emergency situations. 0:08:20.020 --> 0:08:22.220 It's insane. So like if there was like a hot 0:08:22.260 --> 0:08:25.250 air balloon crash or a guy with a handlebar mustache 0:08:25.310 --> 0:08:28.130 riding too fast on his unicycle, this is the contraption 0:08:28.170 --> 0:08:30.030 you'd have to use. That's exactly. 0:08:30.070 --> 0:08:33.150 Those were two of the most common injuries in emergencies. 0:08:33.170 --> 0:08:36.270 But it turns out people use the crank and hook 0:08:36.290 --> 0:08:40.310 thing for some pretty important things. Like way back in 1907, 0:08:40.309 --> 0:08:43.400 Somebody used one to report a train robbery, and it 0:08:43.460 --> 0:08:45.840 actually contributed to the arrest of the outlaws. 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:47.820 What? That's incredible. 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:49.579 Actually, it's just so fun to read about some of 0:08:49.620 --> 0:08:52.000 these old ones. Here's one more old-time nugget. Part of 0:08:52.020 --> 0:08:55.240 the reason we actually have some early emergency regulations is 0:08:55.300 --> 0:08:58.940 because of the Titanic. So basically, when people on the 0:08:58.980 --> 0:09:02.830 ship realized they were in trouble, the Titanic radio operator 0:09:02.910 --> 0:09:05.569 signaled for help. And it turns out there was one 0:09:05.670 --> 0:09:08.990 ship close by that was capable of offering aid. but 0:09:09.030 --> 0:09:12.079 the operator was off duty and the signal was never 0:09:12.340 --> 0:09:17.880 actually received, which is obviously a tragic situation. So in response, 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.880 Congress passed the Radio Act of 1912 requiring all seagoing 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.380 vessels to have a licensed radio operator on duty at 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:29.569 all times. And this was to continuously monitor these distress frequencies. 0:09:30.110 --> 0:09:35.110 And that's what kickstarted the relationship between emergency communications and governance. 0:09:35.750 --> 0:09:38.930 It's interesting that That's one of the legacies of the Titanic. 0:09:39.190 --> 0:09:42.120 I never would have guessed that. But I guess it 0:09:42.130 --> 0:09:44.600 kind of makes sense that it takes a big tragedy 0:09:44.660 --> 0:09:47.620 to spur some big change like that. Like in the UK, 0:09:47.980 --> 0:09:51.439 instead of 911, they have 999. And it's actually the 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:55.730 world's oldest emergency phone service. It dates back to 1935. 0:09:55.730 --> 0:09:58.809 But again, it comes about because of a tragedy. There 0:09:58.850 --> 0:10:01.680 was a deadly fire in London. on Wimpole Street, and 0:10:01.740 --> 0:10:04.900 five women ended up dying. The neighbors did try to help. 0:10:04.950 --> 0:10:07.310 They all dialed zero for the switchboard, but it was 0:10:07.370 --> 0:10:09.970 jammed with so many calls that they couldn't alert anyone 0:10:10.230 --> 0:10:10.770 of the fire. 0:10:11.850 --> 0:10:13.910 And so I'm curious, though, how did they settle on 0:10:13.950 --> 0:10:15.620 those numbers, 999? 0:10:15.620 --> 0:10:18.720 The general post office, which ran the telephone network, proposed 0:10:18.780 --> 0:10:21.760 a three-digit number that could trigger a special signal and 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:24.760 a flashing light at the exchange. And then the operators 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:29.080 could divert their attention and, you know, get these priority calls. 0:10:29.179 --> 0:10:32.530 But they just had to pick three numbers. People thought 0:10:32.570 --> 0:10:35.250 an N number was a good choice. So, you know, 0:10:35.290 --> 0:10:37.550 you could find it easily if you're reaching for your 0:10:37.570 --> 0:10:39.890 phone in the dark or in thick smoke. So, like, 0:10:39.890 --> 0:10:43.410 111 was rejected because it could be triggered by faulty 0:10:43.450 --> 0:10:47.150 equipment or rubbing telephone lines together, I guess. 222 was 0:10:47.190 --> 0:10:51.740 already taken, apparently. It connected to the Abbey. And 000 0:10:51.740 --> 0:10:53.719 didn't make any sense because the first zero would already 0:10:53.780 --> 0:10:57.480 take you straight to the operator. So they went with 999. 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:01.480 And on June 30th, 1937, the Capitol's new emergency telephone 0:11:01.500 --> 0:11:06.059 line was unveiled. And a week later, on July 7th, 1937, 0:11:06.059 --> 0:11:08.320 the press reported the first arrest after a 999 call. 0:11:09.650 --> 0:11:12.230 There was a guy, John Stanley Beard. He was woken 0:11:12.270 --> 0:11:13.990 up in the early hours of the morning by a 0:11:14.050 --> 0:11:17.150 noise underneath his bedroom window. And when he looked outside, 0:11:17.250 --> 0:11:20.670 he saw a single foot, a man's foot out there. 0:11:21.350 --> 0:11:25.319 And so his wife dialed 999. In less than five minutes, 0:11:25.380 --> 0:11:27.800 this burglar was arrested. Five minutes. 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:30.880 That's actually pretty amazing given everything. But so 999 pretty 0:11:30.940 --> 0:11:31.920 much worked immediately. 0:11:33.110 --> 0:11:37.730 Well, it didn't work perfectly. Of the about 1,300 calls 0:11:37.790 --> 0:11:41.590 made that first week, 91 were prank calls. Oh, gosh. 0:11:41.809 --> 0:11:44.870 I mean, it feels so stupid, but also so human 0:11:44.929 --> 0:11:47.270 that as soon as the country gets this emergency number, 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:49.420 people would, of course, start making crank calls. 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.700 Yeah, especially after this very sober notice in the evening 0:11:53.740 --> 0:11:55.940 news advised the public how to use 999. It reads, quote, 0:11:58.010 --> 0:12:01.570 Only dial 999 if the matter is urgent. If, for instance, 0:12:01.650 --> 0:12:03.660 the man in the flat next to yours is murdering 0:12:03.700 --> 0:12:06.320 his wife or you have seen a heavily masked cat 0:12:06.340 --> 0:12:09.380 burglar peering around the stack pipe of the local bank building. 0:12:09.820 --> 0:12:11.990 If you have merely lost a little towser or a 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:14.640 lorry has come to rest in your front garden... just 0:12:14.700 --> 0:12:18.820 call up the local police, end quote. I love the 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.460 idea that someone putting their truck a little too close 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:23.880 to your azaleas is something you should call 911 about. 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:27.370 I'm pretty sure I told you this before, but my grandmother, 0:12:27.410 --> 0:12:30.290 of course, Mamaw, if we'd end up in a traffic 0:12:30.330 --> 0:12:31.869 jam every once in a while, she would want to 0:12:31.910 --> 0:12:33.850 pick up the phone and call 911, and we'd have 0:12:33.890 --> 0:12:36.449 to stop her from doing that just to find out 0:12:36.470 --> 0:12:38.709 why there was a traffic jam. But I mean, I 0:12:38.750 --> 0:12:40.950 guess they were just worried that the emergency number would 0:12:41.010 --> 0:12:43.530 turn into this sort of like a complaint line for 0:12:43.570 --> 0:12:44.410 cranky citizens. 0:12:44.670 --> 0:12:47.130 Yeah, I mean, I guess that's fair. The other thing 0:12:47.150 --> 0:12:49.170 about the line of that time is that the early 0:12:49.210 --> 0:12:52.850 technology wasn't perfect. So when a call came in, operators 0:12:52.910 --> 0:12:56.070 were alerted by this like big flashing red light and 0:12:56.470 --> 0:12:59.370 a klaxon, which is one of those like awooga sirens. 0:13:00.390 --> 0:13:03.480 So if you can imagine multiple calls coming in at once, 0:13:03.530 --> 0:13:06.900 it's kind of nuts. A 1951 article in the Post 0:13:06.940 --> 0:13:12.150 Office Telegram Communications Journal, described 999's early days, quote, when 0:13:12.170 --> 0:13:15.450 the raucous buzzer sounded in the quiet discipline switch rooms, 0:13:15.470 --> 0:13:17.569 a few of the girls found the situation too much 0:13:17.610 --> 0:13:19.580 for them and had to be carried out. 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:23.599 That sounds pretty awful, actually. But actually, there are a 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.100 whole bunch of awoogas and flashing lights going on over there. 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:27.800 I don't know if our listeners can hear that, which 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:29.980 I think Dylan is using to tell us it is 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:32.360 time to throw to commercials. So stay right there. We'll 0:13:32.380 --> 0:13:35.809 be back with more part-time genius after the break. Music 0:13:51.100 --> 0:13:53.660 Welcome back to Part-Time Genius, where we're talking 911 and 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:57.280 the various emergency lines around the world. All right, Mingo, 0:13:57.300 --> 0:13:59.640 let's jump over to Europe and look at their emergency 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:02.740 number 112. How did that come into existence? 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.890 So the idea for 112 started in the early 1990s. 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:10.470 In July 1991, the EU decided that all member states 0:14:10.570 --> 0:14:14.290 would introduce a common emergency number. But it wasn't until 0:14:14.290 --> 0:14:18.970 2002 that 112 became mandatory for all EU member states. 0:14:19.570 --> 0:14:22.130 And the number does work in some other places, like 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:27.000 Australia uses a triple zero for their emergency number, although 0:14:27.100 --> 0:14:29.300 you can also use 112 if you're calling from a 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:29.960 mobile phone. 0:14:30.500 --> 0:14:31.680 Actually, that was one of the things I thought was 0:14:31.780 --> 0:14:34.080 most interesting in the research of all of this. Like 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.800 if you're abroad and you dial your home country's emergency number, 0:14:38.230 --> 0:14:41.310 often it'll just forward to whatever country you're in. Like 0:14:41.370 --> 0:14:44.550 if you dial 112 here in the States, it forwards 0:14:44.610 --> 0:14:45.510 to 911. Yeah, I. 0:14:46.930 --> 0:14:49.310 Actually remember when I was on study abroad, this kid 0:14:49.470 --> 0:14:52.180 on my trip was feeling sick from something he'd eaten. 0:14:52.420 --> 0:14:55.320 And he was like, super, super dramatic. And he was like, 0:14:56.020 --> 0:14:59.070 crawling on the floor to the phone and trying to 0:14:59.270 --> 0:15:02.250 dial 911. But, you know, it's a landline and it 0:15:02.310 --> 0:15:05.610 doesn't go anywhere. So, you know, it did make me think, like, 0:15:05.870 --> 0:15:07.710 I don't know what you're supposed to do in emergency 0:15:07.730 --> 0:15:10.810 situations in other countries. But I guess cell phones have 0:15:10.850 --> 0:15:12.530 kind of solved for that, which is a great thing. 0:15:12.730 --> 0:15:15.110 It is definitely a good thing. And today we have 0:15:15.150 --> 0:15:17.590 what's called enhanced 911, which is what 93% of counties 0:15:17.630 --> 0:15:23.580 with 911 coverage have. So basically, 911 systems have been 0:15:23.780 --> 0:15:27.260 upgraded to accommodate for wireless calls, and they share the 0:15:27.300 --> 0:15:31.880 caller's location by IDing the closest cell tower to the caller. 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:34.080 I'm sure you've heard about this as well. 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:36.800 Yeah, I feel like you hear a lot about that 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:39.910 on like NCIS type shows or like in serial where 0:15:39.930 --> 0:15:42.910 they're trying to triangulate a caller's location from cell phone towers. 0:15:42.990 --> 0:15:45.710 But that feels like technology that's been around for a while. 0:15:46.300 --> 0:15:49.800 That's true, but 911 is always evolving. Like right now, 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:54.180 dispatch operators are transitioning to what's called Next Generation 911 0:15:54.180 --> 0:15:57.520 or NG 911, which will allow us to send things 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:00.660 like text and pictures to our 911 providers. 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.990 Which is great, but I imagine with all the prank 0:16:05.260 --> 0:16:07.910 pictures that might come through, it's probably another opportunity for 0:16:07.970 --> 0:16:12.270 emergency dispatchers to remind 911 users to use it appropriately. 0:16:12.930 --> 0:16:14.690 Well, none of our listeners would ever do that, but... 0:16:14.980 --> 0:16:17.260 Here's another interesting thing that I learned in my research. 0:16:17.300 --> 0:16:20.660 And again, it's an evolution because of a tragedy. But 0:16:21.090 --> 0:16:22.850 you know, if you're in an office, you often have 0:16:22.890 --> 0:16:25.470 to dial nine to reach an outside line, right? 0:16:25.850 --> 0:16:27.750 Yeah. And sometimes in hotels too, right? 0:16:27.990 --> 0:16:31.830 Yeah, exactly. And that's not the case if you're dialing 911. 0:16:31.830 --> 0:16:35.030 So today, if you just dial 911, it'll connect you. 0:16:35.510 --> 0:16:38.210 And that's because of this case in 2013. There was 0:16:38.250 --> 0:16:41.210 a woman named Carrie Hunt. She was attacked and killed 0:16:41.250 --> 0:16:44.460 by her estranged husband in Marshall, Texas. And this happened 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:48.120 in a hotel room. And so Carrie's nine-year-old daughter was 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:50.440 in the room and trying to call 911 on the 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:53.640 hotel phone. I mean, just such a tragic situation, but 0:16:53.860 --> 0:16:58.230 she dialed 911 four times during the attack, but tragically, 0:16:58.330 --> 0:17:01.370 none of those calls went through. That is so awful. 0:17:01.510 --> 0:17:01.830 Yeah. 0:17:01.910 --> 0:17:05.010 So ever since then, Carrie's father, a man named Hank Hunt, 0:17:05.050 --> 0:17:08.820 has worked tirelessly with the FCC and Congress to change 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.660 the law so that nine is no longer needed for 0:17:11.660 --> 0:17:16.470 911 calls from these multi-line systems like hotel phones, business phones, 0:17:16.510 --> 0:17:19.250 things like that. And all these efforts paid off in 0:17:19.250 --> 0:17:23.750 2018 when Kerry's law actually became this officially adopted law 0:17:23.770 --> 0:17:26.680 across the states. 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.680 That's really sad, but it also seems so obvious, right? 0:17:30.060 --> 0:17:31.920 I guess we just don't think of these things until 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:32.440 we have to. 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:35.800 Yeah, and because arguably the multi-line phone system is a 0:17:35.859 --> 0:17:39.570 great technological advancement, but it didn't integrate naturally with the 0:17:39.570 --> 0:17:42.619 911 system. And It's kind of the same things with 0:17:42.700 --> 0:17:46.080 smartphones and watches, but really more in the opposite direction. 0:17:46.340 --> 0:17:48.940 They've almost made calling 911 too easy. 0:17:49.060 --> 0:17:51.120 Yeah, I think it's funny that every time I shut 0:17:51.140 --> 0:17:52.920 my phone off, it offers me the option to call 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:56.510 emergency services, which is obviously a good thing, but sometimes 0:17:56.570 --> 0:17:58.689 it does feel like my phone wants me to call 911. 0:17:58.690 --> 0:18:01.850 Yeah, I mean, like you said, built-in 911 features in 0:18:01.910 --> 0:18:05.670 smartphones are a net positive, but they've definitely led to 0:18:05.710 --> 0:18:09.860 an increase in the accidental 911 calls. For instance, in India, 0:18:09.970 --> 0:18:12.460 for some reason... If you or your kid or your 0:18:12.500 --> 0:18:16.400 pocket presses the side button three times, your phone will 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:17.300 dial 112. 0:18:17.300 --> 0:18:20.260 That's crazy. I go to India like every other year 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:21.760 and I had no idea about this. 0:18:21.780 --> 0:18:24.800 I'm glad that you haven't accidentally called 9 or 112, 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:26.899 I guess, in that case. You know, and some smart 0:18:26.940 --> 0:18:30.300 watches now include fall detection. So if your watch thinks 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:33.399 you've fallen and can't get up, it will call 911, 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:35.369 which is a great safety feature. 0:18:36.090 --> 0:18:38.510 Yeah, it's so smart. It's like such a boon for 0:18:38.650 --> 0:18:40.590 people like us who might be worried about, you know, 0:18:40.750 --> 0:18:41.889 your parents or your in-laws. 0:18:42.050 --> 0:18:44.350 Yeah, but you can also imagine how it might cause 0:18:44.390 --> 0:18:47.980 some problems too. Like at one Idaho ski resort this 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:51.940 past winter, this place called Schweitzer Mountain, the sheriff's office 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:56.880 saw this dramatic increase in unwanted 911 calls and people 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:59.560 that were skiing and snowboarding and they were just wiping out, 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:02.689 which was triggering all this fall detection on smartwatches and 0:19:02.730 --> 0:19:03.830 it just kept calling 911. 0:19:03.830 --> 0:19:06.780 Yeah. That's incredible. They just have to stay on the 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.280 bunny hill if you're wearing a smartwatch. 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:12.460 That's right. But sometimes it doesn't even take a fall 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.619 to trigger this automatic emergency call. So there's this Reddit 0:19:15.680 --> 0:19:18.940 post from a person in Europe whose Samsung Galaxy dialed 0:19:18.940 --> 0:19:21.449 112 when they took it off. And this is what 0:19:21.490 --> 0:19:24.490 it said, quote, I took my watch off and threw 0:19:24.530 --> 0:19:26.949 it on my bed because I went to take a shower. Well, 0:19:26.970 --> 0:19:30.730 my watch interpreted that as falling. 112 called me like 0:19:30.869 --> 0:19:33.280 four times. And when I heard the fourth call, I 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:35.000 ran out to answer the phone. 0:19:36.150 --> 0:19:38.080 That's crazy. And I feel like running out all soapy 0:19:38.140 --> 0:19:40.500 with shampoo in your eyes might actually cause a spill 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:44.340 that makes you need to call 911. But to your point, obviously, 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:47.869 unintentional calls aren't a great thing, especially since there's a 0:19:47.890 --> 0:19:50.600 nationwide shortage of 911 dispatch. right now. 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.060 Oh, that's interesting. Why do you think there's a shortage? 0:19:53.340 --> 0:19:56.280 So a lot of reasons, you know, burnout from the pandemic, 0:19:56.500 --> 0:19:59.879 long shifts, overnight shifts, low pay, high stress, all of 0:19:59.940 --> 0:20:04.060 that is contributing. But the volume of calls is also insane. 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:06.820 I mean, this number is all over the place online, 0:20:06.859 --> 0:20:12.020 but supposedly... America's 911 system receives an average of 240 0:20:12.020 --> 0:20:15.820 million calls annually, or an average of over 1,200 calls 0:20:15.900 --> 0:20:16.980 per minute. Oh, wow. 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:18.020 That is insane. 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:21.530 Yeah. And I hadn't even processed how hard the job is. Like, 0:20:21.550 --> 0:20:24.750 I actually read this memoir. It's called Answering 911 by 0:20:24.830 --> 0:20:28.650 Caroline Burau, I think her name's pronounced. But she's talking 0:20:28.670 --> 0:20:30.530 about how people always want to hear the types of 0:20:30.550 --> 0:20:33.149 calls she answers at parties. And it just makes her 0:20:33.190 --> 0:20:36.399 pause every time because, like, Actually, the most interesting calls, 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:38.919 she says, are the saddest ones. So this is what 0:20:38.940 --> 0:20:41.810 she writes. They are the stories where mothers and fathers 0:20:41.869 --> 0:20:44.530 fail their children. They are the stories where friends and 0:20:44.590 --> 0:20:47.030 lovers do awful things to each other because of drugs 0:20:47.090 --> 0:20:49.750