[*Laurie*]

Last night was really rough. I live in a town that still allows fireworks, which is ridiculous, especially because of the fire issues in California. The police department "promised" that this year they wouldn't tolerate illegal fireworks. Yeah, right. Some thoughtless jerk was repeatedly setting off bottlerockets just outside my window, starting at dusk and on and on, well into the night. The whole neighborhood...it sounded like a war zone. It was bad; I've never heard such a violent 4th of July. My husband is a Vietnam combat veteran; he was absolutely frantic, pacing the room and talking about the Tet offensive. And he still denies that he has PTSD. My poor cats were really traumatized. They hid, but one was so frightened, he lost his ability to move and just curled up in a terrorized ball.

The third time the jerk set off a line of bottlerockets flames went up into the large, leafy tree outside my window. Glass shattered all over. I called 911 and the woman who answered could not have been ruder. She could hear my husband yelling, and I was trying to shout over him that we needed a police patrol out here because the a**hole setting off the illegal fireworks was going to set the tree on fire. She scolded me for calling 911 and yelled at me, "In the future only call this number if it's a life or death emergency!" I yelled, "PLEASE send an officer out here!" -and she hung up on me!!

My husband and cats are pretty much okay today, but I can't stop the anxiety I feel. I am exhausted. I just feel like crying. Thank you for reading this.

[healingme4me]

What does she mean only call in an emergency?! You have a right to have a patrol car attend to you!
I also have a slew of neighbors that every year celebrate-for days on end, yet, there's underlying understandings, typically stopping before the noise ordinance times and frankly noone wants to see our homes up in flames, this city has had its share of fires.
Do you have a neighborhood association or city councilor/town alderman that you could speak with. It's not fair if not everyone is treating everyone else with some courtesy.

[*Laurie*]

Thank you, healingme4me. I am going to make a complaint to the police department as soon as I can calm down some. Speaking with a city council person is an excellent idea. And yeah- that 911 operator was so wrong.

[RubyRae]

I was told the same thing before about calling 911,that it has to be life or death emergencies or I could be charged for mis-using the service next time,that if it's not life or death I should call the police instead.

I can see why they would not consider this incident life or death and why you were told that.

[*Laurie*]

Originally Posted by RubyRae

I was told the same thing before about calling 911,that it has to be life or death emergencies or I could be charged for mis-using the service next time,that if it's not life or death I should call the police instead.

I can see why they would not consider this incident life or death and why you were told that.

So having a combat veteran in crisis is not emergency enough to call 911? Really? How did the 911 operator know he wasn't suicidal? She certainly didn't ask.

You obviously have no experience with someone in the midst of a PTSD flashback. Your unsupportive post astounds me.

[RubyRae]

Originally Posted by *Laurie*

So having a combat veteran in crisis is not emergency enough to call 911? Really? How did the 911 operator know he wasn't suicidal? She certainly didn't ask.

You obviously have no experience with someone in the midst of a PTSD flashback. Your unsupportive post astounds me.

Yes,as a matter of fact I do have experience,I have PTSD myself and so does my husband.

You misinterpreted my reply(or maybe I didn't word it well).I was agreeing with you,not being unsupportive.When I called 911 I was told the same thing except I was threatened with charges being pressed against me for calling them,it was something similar to why you called,that's what I meant by saying I can see why they did not consider it life or death and why you were told that,because I was treated the same way.

I was not implying you were wrong in calling or that it wasn't an emergency,just saying they treat people shi**y.

Sorry for the confusion.

[Marla500]

The person who took your call handled it very poorly. I agree you should contact your local officials. If your 911 service is run by the county, you can find your local Board of Supervisors in the phone book, you may have them assigned by district then you can find the one who represents you (I'm in CA also).

[*Laurie*]

Thank you very much, Marla!

[lizardlady]

Laurie, I'm sorry this happened to you. I agree with the others about filing a complaint about the 911 operator. Given how dry California is and all the wildfires you are having I would think some idiot setting off a bottle rocket into a tree would constitute an emergency.

In my area 911 is for emergencies, period. It doesn't matter if it's life or death or not.

[*Laurie*]

Thank you so much for your support, liz

[*Laurie*]

I have called my local police department and made a complaint about that 911 operator. I am on my county local mental health board, which will hopefully pull some strings. It shocks me, how poorly trained 911 operators are when it comes to mental health emergencies.

[*Laurie*]

Wow! The PD supervisor returned my call, told me he had reviewed the 911 call, and that the operator's behavior was unprofessional and unacceptable. He said such behavior "is not tolerated", and that he will be speaking with that woman himself. I thanked him profusely for his kindness and concern.

[eskielover]

So glad your police department responded in such a caring way & glad he will be confronting her about the way she handled your call.

Wow, our 911 here gets all sorts of calls....I even called them at 1am because I was herding a cow on the highway to make sure it didn't get hit or cause an accident. They sent out the sheriff immediately to help get the cow back into the field.

Luckily I have our head sheriff's cell phone # though have only called him a couple of times.

One night the headlights on my truck were on at 3am. Scared me as I hadn't driven my truck for 3 days. Called 911 to have the sheriff come & check out if someone was messing around my truck (had break-ins in the unfinished farm house next door). Didn't want to go out alone. Duh, think my dog pressed my emergency door popper which was why the lights stayed on so long because we didnt find any signs of footprints or fingerprints in the dew. Felt stupid when I later realized what had really happened.

I have been first on the scene of many accidents here. So thankful for cell phones to call in emergencies like that.

My farm area was really quiet but a friend has neighbors who set off huge fireworks & scared her horses & they ran down to the river. She initially had no idea where they went. Horses get spooked & break through fences. This is also a horrible holiday for horses & here they aren't illegal.....sure wish they were except for displays in the parks.

No, 911 isn't just for life or death....it's for any emergencies.

[lizardlady]

Laurie, that's great! Good for you.

[lizardlady]

Eskie, I once called 911 to report a herd of Angus (black) cows in the middle of a road where there were no streetlights and traffic flies. The operator chewed me out for calling 911 because cows in the road was not an emergency. I told her it was going to become an emergency when someone plowed into them in the dark.

[eskielover]

Wow LL, guess our small town is used to getting calls like that. They were very thankful I called & so was the sheriff. They get those calls all the time. In my own area I know the owners but many fields are leased along the highway so owners don't even live there.....& yes, if it causes an accident & someone gets killed it is an emergency.

[RubyRae]

I think 911 should respond to every call,treat each one as an emergency rather than picking and choosing and denying some.

My brother called once because he

Possible trigger:

was robbed and had his throat sliced ear to ear

And he wasn't believed and they wouldn't send emergency services because he had called before with things they didn't consider true emergencies.

It was SO wrong of them!

[*Laurie*]

Thank you all for your kindness and support. Last night was blessedly quiet, no "after" fireworks at all. But my poor cats are still on edge from all the chaos of the 4th- as am I. Ah well, keep breathing and my anxiety should calm eventually.

I live in a part of my community that is populated by a large number of new Canadians. Most of these individuals are refugees from war-torn and strife filled parts of the world. Who knows what horrors these families have experienced before escaping to find a new home that is safe. I can only imagine then the fear and terror inflicted by the setting off of the fireworks (for us it was July 1st).

I am sorry your husband had to go through the same.

[cakeladie]

Laurie I live in California to. The city I live in is one of the only ones that allow fireworks. This year we have unfortunately been in the news way to much all for illegal fireworks. I got meds to help Sammy our dog through it but the cats and I touched it out. At one point the big boom and the light that followed lite up my whole front room.

As for the 911 operator she should be suspended. Our police and our firemen did patrols throughout the night. But they will tell you only call 911 in an emergency. It's lucky that they did patrols because some kids were doing firework races with illegal fireworks and one went off in the kids hand (he's 18 years old) he lost all of his fingers on that hand. It's a good thing that they had patrols out because calling 911 took a lot longer and he would have died.

Calling 911 in an emergency. Who can say what an emergency is to someone. I call 911 when a stranger hopped my fence and was in my back yard so I called 911 and they asked if they were still there and I said I wasn't going out to check and she told me she could not send an officer they were busy so I did the next best thing and called hubby. Hubby said to call 911 again and tell them I had a gun and if they didn't send someone out here then shoot the person. So I called 911 back and sure enough an officer became available. I would never shoot anyone nor handle a gun but it's sad that I had to resort to that.

I am glad you reported it.

[*Laurie*]

Originally Posted by justafriend306

I live in a part of my community that is populated by a large number of new Canadians. Most of these individuals are refugees from war-torn and strife filled parts of the world. Who knows what horrors these families have experienced before escaping to find a new home that is safe. I can only imagine then the fear and terror inflicted by the setting off of the fireworks (for us it was July 1st).

I am sorry your husband had to go through the same.

I feel really bad for those people. To me, it is so sick to recreate war. Aren't there enough wars as it is?

[*Laurie*]

Originally Posted by cakeladie

Laurie I live in California to. The city I live in is one of the only ones that allow fireworks. This year we have unfortunately been in the news way to much all for illegal fireworks. I got meds to help Sammy our dog through it but the cats and I touched it out. At one point the big boom and the light that followed lite up my whole front room.

As for the 911 operator she should be suspended. Our police and our firemen did patrols throughout the night. But they will tell you only call 911 in an emergency. It's lucky that they did patrols because some kids were doing firework races with illegal fireworks and one went off in the kids hand (he's 18 years old) he lost all of his fingers on that hand. It's a good thing that they had patrols out because calling 911 took a lot longer and he would have died.

Calling 911 in an emergency. Who can say what an emergency is to someone. I call 911 when a stranger hopped my fence and was in my back yard so I called 911 and they asked if they were still there and I said I wasn't going out to check and she told me she could not send an officer they were busy so I did the next best thing and called hubby. Hubby said to call 911 again and tell them I had a gun and if they didn't send someone out here then shoot the person. So I called 911 back and sure enough an officer became available. I would never shoot anyone nor handle a gun but it's sad that I had to resort to that.

I am glad you reported it.

Thank you so much for your kind support, cakeladie. In the past, I have resorted to telling the police operator that someone had a gun just so they'd send an officer out. You're correct- it really is pathetic to have to resort to lying just to get police protection. Very frustrating.

Every year there are people who lose fingers or a hand or some other awful accident because of illegal fireworks - and sometimes, even legal ones. And all the animals that have to suffer through fireworks...it's just heartbreaking. I just wish fireworks would be outlawed, and become a thing of the past.