Call 911 Correctly – BP #26

///How to Call 911 Correctly///

Before talk about basic safety information, I want to discuss my solution to gun crime that I proposed last week. For the record, I wrote the article before I learned of the brutal tragedy in Colorado. The article was automatically published before I even woke up that morning. But my article’s thesis was outright proven by the horrible events that had unfolded.

In Theatre 9, filled to capacity with 300 people, if just 10% of people had been carrying a handgun, fewer people would have died. One or two of the defenders might have gotten wounded or killed. The coward child-murderer James Holmes was wearing tactical armour — but a sufficient number of gun carriers would have disabled him and his weapon promptly. The same tactical advantage that he used to commit mass murder – standing at the front of a theatre like it was a shooting gallery with a perfect line of site to any location in the room – would have been his downfall as almost everybody would have had a clear shot.

Despite this truth, the leftist, socialist media responded just as I said they’d respond to any mass shooting (if you don’t believe me, read the article): they called for gun control. Yes, let’s ensure that the next time this kind of horrific, unconscionable event happens – and let’s face it, there will be a next time – that people will be less prepared to respond. It’s disgusting. The active duty servicemen killed in the Fort Hood massacre couldn’t return fire because they were prohibited from carrying live weapons on the base — but the media never mentioned that.

People will gladly wear Batman costumes out in public. Yet open carry of a handgun would somehow terrorize people? Municipalities in Colorado, including Denver, already have grotesque infringements on the US Constitution’s right to bear arms. Denver bans the open carry of hand guns. There is a ‘process’ (a Kafka-esque trial) to get a concealed weapon permit – but it costs a lot of time, money, and effort. Colorado is already anti-gun. James Holmes still obtained weapons and shot dozens.

/end rant. Yes, this is a personal finance blog. But I’d like to use my platform as an opportunity to share some critical safety information today.

If you have twenty minutes, consider listening to the police radio chatter from that terrible night in Aurora:

Hindsight is 20/20. Even still, from what I can tell, the cops did a great job. Do I think Canadian police, in a city of equivalent size, would have responded as effectively? No, I do not. I’ll point out that the Aurora police needed three things immediately: more people with guns (I’ve already covered this), gas masks (in the future it might be a good idea to put gas masks in patrol car trunks), and medical assistance for victims.

How can you help with the ‘medical assistance’ part?

By calling 911 immediately and correctly.

You see an accident. You pick up the phone and dial 911. What do you say first?

Your location. To my knowledge, they’ll dispatch a fire truck to almost any emergency. Fire crews are the quickest responders and they’re prepared for the widest range of events. In the Aurora massacre, for example, fire could go into the theater with breathing apparatus with less concern about the irritant gas.

Next say what the emergency is. If it’s a car wreck, for example, tell them how many vehicles are involved. Are there any people still in the cars? How many? Is somebody trapped? 911 will refine the response. They’ll roll an ambulance for each potential casualty and they’ll send police to direct traffic and take witness statements.

Just doing those two things, extremely quickly, can save lives. I’m not saying it didn’t happen in Aurora. I’m just saying that people everywhere should know how to call 911 properly.

In a situation as devastating as the Aurora theater massacre, 911 callers could have helped in two more ways:

• Call the number of “reds” (life threatening injuries) and “blacks” (the number of dead); these are two of the four triage colour codes. It wasn’t until 6 minutes into the radio chatter that an officer calls “7 down in theater 9″, making it clear that the situation was definitely a mass casualty scenario. Almost immediately after, a cop asks the radio operator to make a request for reciprocal assistance from nearby Denver and the county. If a caller had informed their 911 operator of the number of wounded and killed they’d seen as they evacuated, the police might have known to ramp up their response even quicker.
• Don’t freak out. Note that one cop asks for an EMT and says a person is “eviscerated”. That means his guts were hanging out. Using language like “red” or “eviscerated” is smart. It’s less likely to cause panic than screaming “His guts are hanging out!” like it’s a war movie.
• Call the situation a Mass Casualty Incident or MCI. You may notice in the police chatter that a commander labelled the situation an MCI near the end of the call. If a 911 caller said it was a mass casualty incident then, again, this may have helped the police ramp up quicker.

After you provide sufficient information about the location and the emergency, the 911 Operator will start asking you various detailed questions to further get a grip on what’s happening. Personally, I’d put the Operator on speakerphone and start triage, first aid, and CPR (in that order). Treat the seriously injured, not the walking wounded. Round people up to apply direct pressure to wounds. If somebody goes into shock, get legs above their head. Lean people toward the side of their deep puncture wound (e.g. gunshot or stab wound). If somebody is non-responsive, check their airway, breathing, and circulation. Don’t move the injured without a backboard (unless the environment is too dangerous to remain in it). If you don’t see blood but they’re going cold, growing unresponsive, etc., assume there’s internal bleeding and get help immediately. It’s all common sense, really, but that brings me to my last point about how you can save lives:

• Learn first aid; and
• Learn CPR.

///Catherine Holly Wood aka Cat aka Chairman Meow///

This week’s pictures were taken in a No Frills checkout line.

Cat really loves that dinosaur. For some reason, she constantly puts one of her arms in the dinosaur’s plastic loops.

///Mentions///

///Amendments and Addenda///

///Tweet(s) of the Week///

In a bizarre mini-Wal-Mart, with lots of Zellers red. twitter.com/TimelessFinanc…

— TimelessFinance (@TimelessFinance) July 25, 2012

///Keyword Fun///

Money-Smart Keyword Award (x2) goes to:

• adhaero super glue
• adhaero-brand contact cement

Use them! They’re great. And cheap. Well, more so cheap, but still great.

Money-Stupid Keyword Award (x3) goes to:

• is buying a 600,000 house too expensive
• how much money do i need when buying a 600,000 dollar home
• how should you make to afford a $600,000 home

Clearly somebody was interested in buying a $600,000 home and kept stumbling across this fair blog. Given their searches, they’ve already jumped through the mental hoops of cognitive dissonance necessary to justify their foolish house horniness. Best of luck post-crash.

“Why do people always ask ME for directions?” Keyword Award goes to:

closest grocery store to emily park

Seriously. People ask me for directions constantly. Yes, I do happen to have a decent sense of direction. But how do people know?? I’m usually so unkempt and poor-looking. I wouldn’t ask me for directions. I’d probably roll up my windows and drive a little faster. I guess people might as well start asking me for directions by way of Google searches, too.

By the way, it’s Foodland Omemee (31 King Street East). When you’re on Emily Park Road coming from Emily Park, turn right onto Highway 7. Drive for about 4 minutes and it’ll be on your right. There’s lots of parking. About 50 metres down the street on the opposite side there’s a post office, an LCBO, and a 24-hour Mac’s (with less expensive milk!).

Notably missing keyword to SEO-optimize this post by increasing the keyword density

Call 911

///YouTube///

Another example of why open carry laws should be enacted across America and Canada, too.

///Links///

1. Control Your Cash provides the best analysis of the LIBOR ‘scandal’ that I’ve read. I learned about LIBOR in third year Financial Econ. At the time I was like “How is this an important economic indicator? It’s a very informal survey. I know that kind of BS flies in cultural studies, but in economics!?” It turns out that my gut instinct wasn’t wrong. CYC eloquently explains why: LIBOR is supposedly an economic indicator but it isn’t supported by market transactions. No matter how honest banks might be (and they’re not honest, because it’s unprofitable to lie), this indicator is therefore fictional. If you want a forward-looking indicator, look at the stock market or check out the REAL Real GDP growth rate (yes, I meant to say “real” twice; it wasn’t redundant). LIBOR isn’t even rigorous to the extent of surveys like the PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index).

2. “Tony Robbins event leaves 21 burned after they walk on hot coals“. No, LA Times, your title is wrong. 21 morons burned their feet after walking across hot coals at a Tony Robbins event. The presence of peer pressure is relevant but not the cause. These were consenting adults who were the authors of their own misery to at least a significant extent. “Robbins’ organization released a statement saying it will look into ways to make the coal-walking event safer if possible.”

3. The American public has awakened to the truth that golf sucks. Of course they figured this out after the “investors” (a.k.a. speculators) had dumped billions into boutique communities centered on (as my Grandpa calls this alleged sport) “a good walk ruined”. It’s ridiculously expensive. The essential “lifestyle” that accompanies golf – the goofy hats, the exorbitant clubs, the obsession with fancy balls – makes it the antithesis of frugality and therefore one of my arch-nemeses.

4. This is the most important thing about negotiations that you should know. And I don’t say that lightly. My Dad taught me this when we were car-shopping, long before I ever heard about the concept of a BATNA in my business program. Sure, expand the pie, focus on shared interests, blah, blah, blah. But in the end it comes down to this one fact. Learn it.

///lol-worthy///