emergency response
it happened very quickly in slow motion - the rear tire clipped the right curb, the tires may have been locked after hitting hard on the breaks, the car may have hit the side of the mountain... it definitely hit a speed wobble and in an attempt to correct what seemed unbelievable it hit the curb again this time blowing out a tire and sending it off in a spin across the lane to the left, sliding backwards and then gone....
the car was gone, vanished into the blackness with only one logical explanation - hit the brakes, the hazard lights and jump out, they have to have launched over the barrier and true as i sit here now there it lay on its roof at the bottom of the mountain side. the car had managed to spin with such velocity, its rim had connected the curb with such force that the barrier couldn't stop it and it flipped, rolled and then came to a stop on its roof at the bottom of the mountain...
10111 - the operator cant understand my accent, she cant understand where i am, she is not sure this is an emergency. i spell out where we are in phonetics (starting with d for donkey) and once she gets the name she needs me to explain where in the country this is.
i was not on a deserted backstreet in some alley of some bywater town, i was on a main road 5km max outbound from the city heading towards the southern suburbs and the operator wasn't sure where this was. finally i am told in a 'gotta get his caller of the phone' manner that a cop car will be sent out.
5 minutes later i call again - there is no movement from the car and the one person to launch himself over the barrier down the mountain has returned saying their legs are trapped... i am told a car will be there shortly 'the longer i keep the operator on the phone the longer it takes to get her to call a car'...
8 minutes later i call back and the operator responds 'u don't honestly expect the cops to respond in under 10 minutes do you?'
it has been almost 15 minutes since a human in a piece of tin launched themselves off of a mountain and landed, who knows how many rolls later, on its head - yes i expect this to be treated as an emergency, yes i expect the response time to be less than 10 minutes and yes i should have heard sirens at least 8 minutes ago. i don't care how many domestic violence, robberies, break ins or other activities are occupying a particular stations attention i am in the vicinity of at least 4 stations and 2 major hospitals that could have by now responded...
the car was gone, vanished into the blackness with only one logical explanation - hit the brakes, the hazard lights and jump out, they have to have launched over the barrier and true as i sit here now there it lay on its roof at the bottom of the mountain side. the car had managed to spin with such velocity, its rim had connected the curb with such force that the barrier couldn't stop it and it flipped, rolled and then came to a stop on its roof at the bottom of the mountain...
10111 - the operator cant understand my accent, she cant understand where i am, she is not sure this is an emergency. i spell out where we are in phonetics (starting with d for donkey) and once she gets the name she needs me to explain where in the country this is.
i was not on a deserted backstreet in some alley of some bywater town, i was on a main road 5km max outbound from the city heading towards the southern suburbs and the operator wasn't sure where this was. finally i am told in a 'gotta get his caller of the phone' manner that a cop car will be sent out.
5 minutes later i call again - there is no movement from the car and the one person to launch himself over the barrier down the mountain has returned saying their legs are trapped... i am told a car will be there shortly 'the longer i keep the operator on the phone the longer it takes to get her to call a car'...
8 minutes later i call back and the operator responds 'u don't honestly expect the cops to respond in under 10 minutes do you?'
it has been almost 15 minutes since a human in a piece of tin launched themselves off of a mountain and landed, who knows how many rolls later, on its head - yes i expect this to be treated as an emergency, yes i expect the response time to be less than 10 minutes and yes i should have heard sirens at least 8 minutes ago. i don't care how many domestic violence, robberies, break ins or other activities are occupying a particular stations attention i am in the vicinity of at least 4 stations and 2 major hospitals that could have by now responded...
Labels: accidents, ambulence, cars, de waal drive, emergency, police
posted by TM at 11:32 pm
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