On Calling 911
July 8th, 2010 | Categories: Technology | 5 CommentsI called 911 for the first time today.
I was in the backseat of the car, with my mother behind the wheel and my brother in the passenger seat. I was looking out the window, listening to my iPod and not paying attention. All of a sudden, I heard my mom scream, “Oh my God, oh my God,” and I yanked my earbuds out of my ear and frantically tried to figure out what on earth was going on.
There was a sedan two cars ahead of us that randomly pulled out of our lane and angled his car so that it was perpendicular to the flow of the traffic in the opposing lane. I’m not sure what was his train of thought was or if there even was one, but next thing I knew his car had collided with an SUV that was driving in the other side of the street. The front of the sedan crumpled and the fender of the SUV fell off; the airbags deployed and everything seemed to happen so much faster than it actually did.
The SUV pulled over on the side of the road and the two passengers climbed out, both unhurt. The driver of the sedan wasn’t in great shape; his face was bleeding profusely. However, he was well enough to get out of his car and take his shirt off so that he would have something to stem the steady flow of blood (I’m assuming he had a broken nose as there was a lot of blood). My brother went to go talk to the SUV passengers and the man in the car in front of us went to talk to the driver of the sedan. Meanwhile, I placed a call to 911.
Help arrived within several minutes. The cops arrived first, then an ambulance pulled up and the medics checked on the driver of the sedan. After that, there wasn’t much else we could do, so we hoped that everything would work out okay for those involved and then drove away.
It’s so strange to look at my list of recent contacts in my phone and to see 911 listed.
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Hi, I'm Manda. I'm a college student studying communications and languages. I like to read, shop, bake, and travel. I have a tendency to listen to my favorite songs on repeat for hours on end. Sometimes I catch myself thinking in a language other than English. 
I’ve never called 911 or witnessed a serious car accident, but I’m glad to read this and know that there are people like you out there who prevent the bystander effect by not relying on other people to take action :D
The concept of the bystander effect completely terrifies me. Just the thought of me being in an accident and no one doing anything to help because everyone is thinking that someone else will get help… horrifying!
That sounds crazy, what was he doing?! Good to hear that he got help not only from yourselves but other people as well. Hopefully he was ok.
I’ve never called 911 (or 000 in Australia — and wow, I’m so Americanized I actually had to think twice before remembering that it’s not 911 in Australia), but I’ve always been immensely curious as to the process they lead you through once you dial through. Y’know, in case I ever need to ring 911 :P
The lady I talked to asked for my location, whether or not anyone in the collision was hurt and a description of the cars involved. Then she asked for my name and phone number (I guess so that they had my info in case it turned out to be a prank call?)