They won't get away with it.

[smudgeoffudge]

Another user posted about a boys 911 call which was ignored. I don't remember who originally posted about this. I just thought I'd post an update to the story.

And it looks like they got off easy to me.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/07/911.d ... index.html

[Shoyru_Lover]

Hmm - on the flip side, imagine how many prank calls they get - there's always two sides to a story - poor kid.

[Jasujo]

I'm glad something is being done. I still feel bad for that adorable little boy.

[thelilbear]

Hmm - on the flip side, imagine how many prank calls they get - there's always two sides to a story - poor kid.

Yes, but isn't it their job to follow up on all of them? I mean, it's not like they were dragging their butts out there, all they had to do was send an officer.

[Paul]

Hmm - on the flip side, imagine how many prank calls they get - there's always two sides to a story - poor kid.

Yes, but isn't it their job to follow up on all of them? I mean, it's not like they were dragging their butts out there, all they had to do was send an officer.

Not always. If they sent an officer/ambulance to every prank call, I'm quite sure a lot more people would be endangered from robberies, house fires, break ins, etc.

[Drake Redcrest]

I think that this story is sad for a number of reasons, but especially because it's to the point where there have been so many prank calls, that a child dialling 911 is assumed to be pranking them.

[Jens]

why don't they just threat every call and if it's a prank, inform the parents of this and make them pay 200 $ for this

[es.dee]

I remember hearing a similar story where the 911 operator kept saying to the caller that the street she was giving didn't exist but it did.

Anyhow.

That's so sad. Even if they get prank calls, they should still go and investigate or something.. I mean what a tragedy...

Bless his heart, that little boy.

Last edited by es.dee on Fri Jun 09, 2006 2:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Ric]

At my school, it's common lunch-time-fun to prank ambulances... I don't (I have no phone ) but there's a good fair few that do. So... but no one actually dies in Australia, they just get severly injured. So it's not that big a deal.

[kanashimi]

Umm... There was a report in the news (a while back... A year?) about a kid that wasnt taken seriously in Australia, and... Im pretty sure his mum was fine, but same sort of thing happened...

but this is a prety sad story... I cant imagine the pain he will have when he grows up and finds out WHY his mum died... I cant imagine that...

P.S. Since when was severley injured not that big of a deal??

[DarkAngel]

geez.

I was just teaching my 5 yr old son last week about calling 9-1-1 if something were to happen and I couldn't call myself. It's scary to think (and it never occurred to me before reading this) that if he ever did have to call, that it's possible he wouldn't be believed :\

Stupid prank callers ruin it for everyone else. It is sad that that mother died

[Bangel]

At my school, it's common lunch-time-fun to prank ambulances... I don't (I have no phone :() but there's a good fair few that do. So... but no one actually dies in Australia, they just get severly injured. So it's not that big a deal.

It's a huge deal. It's people like the idiots you just described that are truly responsible for the death of this woman, because if there weren't so many of them in the world, then the child's call might have been taken seriously.

Personally, judging from what I read from that article, there's a chance that the woman would have died with or without the ambulance's help, which is probably why the sentencing is not very harsh at all.

[shapu]

At my school, it's common lunch-time-fun to prank ambulances... I don't (I have no phone ) but there's a good fair few that do. So... but no one actually dies in Australia, they just get severly injured. So it's not that big a deal.

It's a huge deal. It's people like the idiots you just described that are truly responsible for the death of this woman, because if there weren't so many of them in the world, then the child's call might have been taken seriously.

Personally, judging from what I read from that article, there's a chance that the woman would have died with or without the ambulance's help, which is probably why the sentencing is not very harsh at all.

Especially because an ambulance that is tasked to a prank is unable to help someone else - remember, there isn't an unlimited supply of ambulances in the world, or in any given neighborhood. Actually, there's usually a shortage when compared to what public safety officials think is necessary.

That's why it's a crime - because an ambulance pranked to one place could result in a person dying elsewhere due to lack of an ambulance. In many places, if that happens, the person who did the pranking can be charged with manslaughter. Same if the ambulance rushing to the scene of the non-emergency gets into an accident and someone dies or is severly injured in that accident - it never would have happened if someone hadn't called 911 (or 999 or whatever) as a joke.

[Paulisacretin]

At my school, it's common lunch-time-fun to prank ambulances... I don't (I have no phone ) but there's a good fair few that do. So... but no one actually dies in Australia, they just get severly injured. So it's not that big a deal.

Scum, frankly.

[Harmonize]

I think the only people to blame in situations like these are the people who make prank calls in the first place. If they hadn't started prank calling, operators wouldn’t have to be suspicious when someone calls for a real emergency. When people die because operators don’t respond to a call, who gets sent to prison for the victims death? No one.

I don’t think children are educated on the seriousness of prank calling. I certainly wasn’t when I was being brought up. If these prank callers knew about situations like these and their effect on other peoples lives because they make these pranks calls, I’m sure they wouldn’t be picking up the phone in a hurry.

Because of stuff like this happening, many pay phones in my town have been taken down and phone booths have cameras now so that prank calling couldn't be an option to the monkeys that do it. And parents should check they're teens mobiles every so often to see that they aren’t one of the prank callers in the first place. I mean, what’s the point of giving a teen a mobile if they’re going to use it to cause havoc and be a little pain in the butt? Bit like offering your leg to a shark.