Response from Mr. Reinan

Date sent: Fri, 06 Nov 1998 15:53:18 -0500
From: "John Reinan"
Organization: The Charlotte Observer
To: gryeyes@redshift.com
Subject: Re: Councilman Al Rousso

Linda, thank you for your e-mail. I bear no ill will toward Councilman Rousso, but I must admit, his behavior on those 911 tapes was jaw-dropping. I think it is important for people to be informed about the actions of public officials, and then they can decide for themselves what, if any, action to take. So I appreciated hearing from you, and I of course appreciate the very difficult work done every day by public safety telecommunicators.

Best to you.

I never received a reply from anyone at the Charlotte City Council, much less from Mr. Rousso himself. Neither did Bob Sawyer, nor Steven Makkey, for that matter. However, here are four final items of commentary I feel are perfectly appropriate to the situation:

Posted to the Dispatch Mailing List

Chauvin, a real person, fanatical supporter of Napoleon, immortalized as the first "Chauvinist."

Marquis de Sade, "Sadist."

Boycott, infamous landlord agent in 19th Century Ireland, his name is synonymous with a labor action.

Quisling, Norwegian traitor in WWII, the terms traitor and quisling are interchangeable.

"Rousso: noun. Witless, foul-mouthed and abusive person who is so laughable and pitiful he is protected from the consequences of his actions by the local police chief."

Council member Al Rousso again said he's sorry for cursing 911 dispatchers Nov. 2 when he reported what he thought to be a suspicious van. Monday's meeting was the first since the incident.

"I want to publicly apologize to this City Council for some language that I used about a week ago," Rousso said Monday. "I don't regret my action in trying to get some public-service officers to the area."

OUTFRONT
Oh man, have we got a wonderful surprise in store for you today

By DOUG ROBARCHEK
Columnist

Hey, gang, we've got a real treat in store for you today. What would you say to a special all-poetry edition of OutFront?

Hmm? Oh yeah? Well, same to you, buster.

To hell with what you want. Here, in spite of popular demand, is the all-poetry OutFront. It's all new, all original, and all over the page. Like an oil spill. And like an oil spill, our poetry is impossible to clean up.

Get Me 911. And a Pill
An excitable fellow named Rousso,
Ineffective invective he'd spew so.
He called the dispatchers
Ol' son-of-a-batchers;
Wild were the fits that he threw so.

(... the columnist's "poetry" continued for several stanza, lampooning other local events...)

Confusion in calls to 911 are common, to workers' lament

By MAKI BECKER
Staff Writer

Earlier this month, Charlotte city councilman Al Rousso grabbed headlines after a tape of him swearing and yelling at 911 operators was released.

Emotional reactions like his aren't uncommon, say emergency response operators and dispatchers. And many people are unclear about how to report an emergency, they say.

Some will dial 911, yell their address and just hang up. Others will become irate at having to answer questions -- "If you'd stop asking all these questions, you could have had a police car out here by now" is a typical comment.

"I'm a taxpayer, and it's none of your business why I want a police officer to come to my house," people will tell 911 operators.

Some folks accuse operators of giving preferential treatment to upper-income neighborhoods.

But you can't blame people for the misunderstandings, folks at 911 say.

"A lot of people, they call 911 maybe once in their lives," said Cindy Conley, director of police communications for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

So here's a primer on how 911 works in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County:

Let's say you dial 911.

The call goes first to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's dispatch center.

A police telecommunicator will answer the call. Sometimes, it will take longer than you'd expect if lots of people are calling at once. One rush-hour wreck on Independence Boulevard prompts dozens of people to call 911 on their car phones, tying up 911 lines.

Calls to 911 are answered through a system called automatic call distributor. It's a fail-safe method that assures every call will be answered as soon as a line is free. All 911 calls are transferred automatically to the operator's headsets as soon as the line is free. The caller's voice just pops up on the headsets without any ringing.

One thing to keep in mind: Never, ever hang up after dialing 911, even if you've changed your mind about the emergency or you were actually trying for 411, they warn.

"The worst thing in the world to do is to hang up on 911," said Marcia Simmons, Charlotte Fire Department communications manager.

Operators will call back, she said, and if the line is busy or the call is unanswered, a patrol car will be dispatched to the address from which the 911 call came.

When you get through to 911, an operator will ask whether your emergency requires police, firefighters or Medic.

If there's a fire or a medical emergency, the police 911 telecommunicator will transfer your call to those departments.

The dispatcher is required to stay on the line, however, until fire or Medic picks up the call, Conley said. If it's a police emergency, the 911 operator will tell a dispatcher to send a patrol car out.

If your emergency involves fire, a Charlotte Fire Department telecommunicator will determine within seconds whether a truck is needed, Simmons said. The operator will dispatch a fire truck while on the phone with you and may ask you more questions to gather for the firefighters en route.

If you are calling in a medical emergency, the call then goes to the Medic Communications Center.

There, your call is supposed to be answered within three rings.

If you indicate you need an ambulance, Medic will dispatch one within 30 seconds -- while still on the phone with you.

In the meantime, the dispatcher is trained to give instructions on how to provide first aid to the victim, whether it's a gunshot wound to the shoulder or a breech birth in the back of a taxi -- information that could help save a life.

For instance, last week, dispatcher Andy Berger fielded a call from a frantic mother. Her child was choking on a piece of candy, she said.

She told the dispatcher the little boy was wheezing and crying. She wanted to know whether she should perform the Heimlich maneuver on him.

Berger told her no, and don't slap him on the back, either. Crying and wheezing indicate the child's airways are only partially obstructed. Whacking him on the back may cause the candy to move and fully block his airway.

While law enforcement and other rescue personnel don't want people to abuse 911, they say they'd rather you err on the side of caution when it comes to an emergency.

If you're not sure, go ahead and call 911. Let the operators determine that for you.

Reach Maki Becker at (704) 358-5107 or email at mbecker@charlotte.com.

******************************************

And here's the Charlotte, NC City Council e-mail address, in case anyone might want it for any particular reason: cmlwp@mail.charmeck.nc.us

Happy to be here, proud to serve.

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