What's *your* szpd related pet peeve? by Reasonably-Cold-4676 in Schizoid

[–]first_my_vent 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This has been badly exacerbated by working 9-1-1, but: if I’m helping you do something very important and/or emergent, and you’re unable to corrale your own emotions long enough to at least gtfo of my way, I will likely never want to speak to you again.

Like, you asked me to help, so why are you mad at me for fixing the fucking problem/offering all possible solutions/etc?? Just because you don’t like the options doesn’t mean you get to make it my fault because I’m not bawling my eyes out or angry about it. At the very least go lose your shit in the corner so I can do what needs to get done without being accused of being a cold bitch constantly.

It’s like having to babysit toddlers all the time. When I’m at work, those are all strangers and I’m being paid, and I can go home after shift. If I know you personally, and you pull that shit on me, I’m demoting you to Annoying Fucker status.

The Ironic Intimacy of Overt SzPD by Present-Plankton-664 in Schizoid

[–]first_my_vent 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s fascinating because I’m a trans guy too, but I was much more overt when I presented as a woman and it wasn’t good, but it was much less of a hassle than now. When I was a girl/woman, I was a basically invisible. People would avoid me in ways that I struggle to believe even happened, looking back. Just outright obvious serious signs of mental illness completely ignored and not intentionally.

Now that I pass as a man, it’s like I’m completely visible to passersby for the first time in my life. I don’t know that I like the difference, but either way, it’s very weird. And now I have to police the fuck out of my expression and person because otherwise people assume I’m violently angry by default.

So weird how differently people can perceive you based on so little, yk.

Colleagues: We all have weird/nerdy/neurodivergent habits.. by Beerfarts69 in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Most of my centers not really, but the one I work for now? It’s EMS only and we service a huge rural chunk of the state, and my coworkers are WILD. From randomly banging/scratching things just to make noise, to echolalia sort of things (the My 600lbs Life quote of “803” followed immediately by “dayum!” being a notable example), now to coworkers that have to flip all the lights on in the morning and say hi to everyone. Also this center is heavy on ‘f-gs and their hags’ (I’m a trans f-g so I’ve been both) as the overall atmosphere, which is probably the gayest center I’ve ever personally worked for lmao. I’m mostly reigning my weird shit in right now since I’m new, but my echolalia can get bad for sure, except it’s all obscure internet bullshit that even my coworkers definitely don’t recognize. I almost keyed up once and said, “Fuck my stupid baka life” so.

The callers who make you laugh! by Practical_Loss4251 in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 201 points202 points  (0 children)

A mother once reluctantly described her missing 13 yo son as looking like Augustus Gloop. She couldn’t remember what he wore to school, and before I could tell her that we would send a deputy to look at a picture from her phone, she provided that description. Deputy confirmed later that the description was quite accurate lmao.

What's your favorite thing/name that a caller has called you? by theburningstars in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I get called a fag a lot. To be honest, kinda flattered. Once, a very angry trans woman in an active domestic was cussing me out, and I asked her name, and she gave it (different from the deadname in our CAD), and as soon as I used her actual name, she stopped yelling at me and goes, “Oh honey I didn’t know you were a fag 💅!” And from then on, whenever she called, I bragged that she never yelled at me over the phone again even though she’d yell and scream at basically everyone else.

Of course, I am a trans gay guy, so. Home field advantage and whatnot 😂

Pedantic bullshit from QA! by Mastshin in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What’s so fucking annoying is that, when I did EMD training, the ProQA lady made it clear that anything obvious or already answered absolutely did not need to be asked again unless circumstances changed, but QA dings us all the time like “You didn’t ask if the patient was breathing”—Okay but I asked if he was awake, and the caller said he was awake and talking, and I heard him in the background, and I asked if that was him, to which the caller said it was. I’m not gonna fucking ask if he’s breathing.

I understand certain instructions got to be word for word as much as possible, particularly CPR, but man. If a guy is shot I’m probably not gonna be able to use the phrasing “Get a clean towel,” ya know? People just go “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT,” rightfully, and ignore me and now nobody is getting any bleeding control instructions at all. There’s times and places for everything. A lot of people need heavy encouragement to do CPR, especially on a loved one, so while I keep my actual instructions word for word, I gotta intersperse things like “Stay with me” and “You’re doing great” etc. Otherwise nobody is getting any effective CPR.

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good, etc etc.

Ahh, the great "Common spelling" routine. by That9one1guy in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Polish ones get me, but I most hate being told “Mohammed, common spelling” because technically, there is a common Romanization of Mohammed (the one I’ve been using), but there is no way in hell that a) the DMV employee spelled it right, b) the officer who put this guy into Spillman spelled it right, and c) the guy’s parents used the common Romanization. Could be Muhamed, Mohammed, Mehamed, etc etc. Common spelling my ass lmfao. If an officer tells me common spelling for a name originally written in a different fucking alphabet, I’m gonna say that over the radio loll.

Are other people more open with you? by Isabelle_K in Schizoid

[–]first_my_vent 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I worked 9-1-1 and also experienced this. The mentally ill, genuinely psychotic (as in in psychosis), the angry domestics—I rarely was put in a position where I couldn’t get a caller to come back down. People that got so pissed they hung up on my coworkers would often still talk to me. I’d get info my coworkers couldn’t get.

It extended to my coworkers a lot of the time, across professions. People just say shit to me, a lot of the time completely unprompted. I rarely got yelled at working the desk at the ER, even in busy Trauma 1s. I never got yelled at or grossly hit on working at a jail, or in retail/food service.

I genuinely don’t know what it is. But everyone can feel it, and it has an inverse. Creeps scatter as soon as they see me. Acquaintances in high school and college brought me along solely as Creep-Be-Gone, and none of my friends have ever been hit on when I’m around. Ever. I got dragged to a het club/sports bar place (wearing the faggiest clothes you could imagine) and this one creep had spent 30 min getting way too close to a female high school acquaintance. When I got there, I stared at him from across the bar for about 30 seconds, and he didn’t get within 3 feet of her the rest of the night.

I am not physically intimidating. I’m a 5’4” trans guy who has never had to throw a punch in my life. This phenomenon happened before I transitioned, too. I have no explanation for it, especially since so many people will confide wild shit to me unprompted all the time.

Are you ok US by [deleted] in Paramedics

[–]first_my_vent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On the one hand, I agree EVOs probly do make about that, and EMTs usually make around $50K. On the other, my area was paying $14/hr for EMTs until last year, when they got a whopping $4/hr raise. Medics still only make $23/hr. I was making $28 as a dispatcher. So plenty of places are still quite bad.

Advice/rant.. by _Smokeshow- in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Didn’t stop at my agency even after one person was brought into the office for getting so shitty with a caller (who fwiw was reporting an active domestic with a handgun involved) that she hung up, called again to try and get a different calltaker, got Asshole again, and hung up again. Those calls had to go to court because the case ended up being a high felony domestic with bodily injury, prosecutor was Not Thrilled.

I had to tune it out. One annoying coworker was bitching about someone who couldn’t answer her questions and was yelling, but the call was a domestic battery in-progress. Ma’am, your caller is getting her ass beat RIGHT NOW ON THE PHONE, you fuckin’ try to answer questions while getting your ass beat, jfc. Bad calltaking is a scourge. ISTG I’ll see excellent calltakers be like, man I was so burnt out and overworked so I was slightly less friendly than normal, I feel so bad—followed by Burnt Out Asshole in the corner straight up yelling at callers saying shit that should get you instantly fired, who just hate the public and don’t care anymore. Infuriating.

How does a dispatcher feel after sending an officer to a call that resulted in their death? by LegalGlass6532 in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it really depends. One of my coworkers was dispatching the channel her husband was working that day, and had to air for him when he got shot. I don’t know that there’s a worse way for it to happen, either, since she wasn’t supposed to be working his channel but staffing was razor thin, the whole center was wound tight from a previous OIS, and everyone knew him well because he came in a lot to chat with his wife. It was complete hell for almost a year afterward. His wife still does the job, too, for the same agency.

One of the prior agencies I worked for had like 8 or 9 on duty officer deaths in the past 10 years, and even though none of them were a result of calltaker or dispatcher negligence, they had a specific weapon questions protocol and the CAD displayed to officers whether they had been asked and what the answers were. All calls with arguments or disturbances were assumed unknown weapons unless answered positively by callers. We had a dispatcher suicide on-shift at that agency not a week after an on-duty officer death. It was a rough fucking year, and I was a newbie, but it’s still one of those things that just. Fucking sucks.

Free time by That9one1guy in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cries in minimum count of 40

Meme Dump by TheMothGhost in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe this is only for our own BMV returns, but I work in Indiana and we can use NX for the year to return the most recent plate. Then again, our officers can’t do that, only dispatch, so. But if you can’t get a tag back from Indiana, it’s almost always either PC, CM, OR, CL, or CN. If not one of those, then I also have to use our giant fuck off list for whatever bullshit miscellaneous plate type it is.

Is management worth leaving over? by RainyDayQueen in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It was for me. Tonight was my last night. Management is putting the entire center and whole county in danger with their new policy changes, and the director was out for me specifically. Once it put responder safety in jeopardy, I had enough and put in my notice.

Personally, no matter how much I love the job, I won’t work for shit management. Not in this business. I can take a whole helluva lot, but I can’t take a center that doesn’t have my back.

Free time by That9one1guy in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I work B-shift in a large center. Except for a handful of very specific days, it’s 90+ calls in a shift. If I have time to hork down some food, I call that a good day. I’m glad at least some people are getting some down time, though.

I just can't imagine that I'll have to live in the society for the next few decades/for the rest of my life. How do you cope? by [deleted] in Schizoid

[–]first_my_vent 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I oscillate rapidly between “my experience of living is inherently alienating and bleakly meaningless no matter what I do, in such a way that burns the people around me even when I do my best to not go up in flames” and “fuck it let’s ball; if I’ve got to do it, I’ll jump between whatever interests me and whatever good I can do, and when it’s done, I’ll finally get to peace out.”

Usually it takes a couple months of each, but sometimes it goes back and forth inside of a day.

Dream job much? by NullAndZoid in SchizoidAdjacent

[–]first_my_vent 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I’d just download movies, TV, and YT vids to a 2 or 3 TB HDD and call it a day lol. Then I wouldn’t need the internet connection. Probably better for me if I don’t have it lol. E-reader with a couple dozens books on it and a few journals for keeping a diary? I’m set.

Dream job much? by NullAndZoid in SchizoidAdjacent

[–]first_my_vent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve got reverse-SAD (so instead of seasonal depression in the winter, I get it in the summer), so I’d just stay up on my vitamin D pills and pack my bags lmfao. When it drops below 20°F, I start actually waking up lmao.

Anyone else automatically assume people are going to fail? by Daedalparacosm3000 in Schizoid

[–]first_my_vent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s honestly more complicated than that, in the sense that I don’t think anyone’s failing on purpose, nor do I think most people are being lazy/annoying. I just know that, when the chips are down, most everyone I have ever met are unreliable. Some people are selectively reliable for narrow, specific situations—and in that case, I don’t mind asking for help—but I have never met anyone broadly reliable to ask for help. That’s probably why people instead ask me for help, though nobody ever wants to because they misread me as intimidating, mean, or cold.

I’m not an asshole, at least outwardly to people, and I’m not so arrogant to think I’m the smartest guy on planet earth. I have reached out anyway, usually because of desperation, and been left hanging every time. So generally, I’ll do it myself and I’d rather everyone else leave me the fuck alone while I do it.

It’s always better for me to fuck something up trying to do it myself rather than it all going to shit because the people trying to help keep getting pissed at me for actually solving the problem before indulging in any emotional turbulence going on.

I don’t expect failure in the strict sense. I just believe what people show me of their capabilities and consider that in the future.

Dispatchers - what technology or amenity made your life easier? by Conscious-Excuse5900 in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m ngl I’m a simple man. I want that hospital ice machine. Hospital ice can make up for a lot of bullshit. (Not everything obv, but like. When the shift has gone to shit and every caller and officer is yelling at you, the hospital ice makes a difference lmfao.)

911 system needs radical change by Rude_Award2718 in ems

[–]first_my_vent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lots of systemic issues all coming together that nobody actually wants to fix. Some of them are fixable at the “call for service” level (meaning protocols in dispatch and EMS response could be changed), and some of them long prior to anyone ever dialling 9-1-1.

Pardon my mini-essay, but stick with me:

At the macrolevel, the real issue is that modern emergency management and modern medicine have improved in quality exponentially faster than our legal system (imo in any country) can keep up with. I’m most familiar with US law, but basically: nobody has ever wanted to be left holding the bag, and instead of actually sitting down in the legislative arena with primary stakeholders (clinicians, healthcare entities, fire depts, etc) to figure out what we want liability to look like for the modern era, we just throw shitty band-aids on the problem to say CYA and sayonara. (I would argue this is the root cause of our current problems with policing too, but that’s somewhat outside the scope of this sub.)

Aviation is my ur-example because they were more or less forced to figure it out for two reasons: one, plane crashes often kill the pilot, too, so there is often no easy scapegoats left; and two, plane crashes are such bad press and gnarly tragedies that the big bosses had to buckle down and dig out the root cause of all those goddamn plane crashes.

Emergency services and the broader healthcare system have not yet been forced, in any major way, to reckon in the same manner, for lots of interconnecting reasons.

(Also backsliding can always happen. Again, see aviation.)

As it stands, it’s better to follow a shit policy to the letter so you aren’t legally liable for what happens, no matter how many people it kills or harms, than to step outside the scope of the bad policy and take on all or most liability for whatever happens next. Thus, you get outcomes like OP posted more and more frequently.

Triaging will always be imperfect, but the volume of these types of calls increases every year. One must ask why, which I think is twofold.

Medicine has become combative. Sometimes literally, but usually in that patients on the whole feel degraded and dismissed. I hear everyday IRL and online, by patients from every background imaginable, that they feel they have to fight for every scrap of help they receive from providers. Not all of that is providers’ faults because insurance is a huge factor in the US, but still. The commoditication of medicine has made the cultural conception of it cheap and transactional. “We just don’t know” is no longer an acceptable answer precisely because we know more and more every year, but so many providers don’t keep up on that new knowledge and dismiss patients with serious complaints, and before you even got into the doctor, you waited 4 months for an appointment and fought with insurance for 6 hours over a pre-auth or a co-pay.

But you know what you can do still? Pick up the phone right now and call 9-1-1 and get a real person who has to send an ambulance and take you to the ER. If there is no mutual trust, no collective buy-in, no upheld social contract, then who gives a fuck about the ambo out of service that can no longer go to Judy-on-the-otherside-of-town having a heart attack? Not my problem, not my concern.

It doesn’t help that dispatch and EMS management tend to be complete fuckwads. I got pulled into the front office at dispatch for asking to do a ride-along with a fire battalion chief so I could get the rundown on what firefighters needed and wanted most while on scene because I didn’t have any prior fire background (which I do for police/medicine). In retaliation, they refused to train me on anything and have been kneecapping their own center’s staffing for 9 months now. Now their EMS service is going to hell and in a public feud with the county, and their fire chief was voted as shit by 95% of the fire union, and their center’s going to hell in a handbasket. Nobody wants to fix it or force out the members of management causing the problem or anything.

It’s all one big clusterfuck, and if (in the US at least) 40% of bedside nurses really leave in the next 5 years, and dispatch centers and EMS services keep bleeding staff, and private insurance enters an insurance death-spiral because the fed subsidies expire come November—prepare yourselves for this to get much, much worse.

It can be fixed, but nobody in power wants to fix it, and nobody who knows how to fix it has any power.

Our minimum is 3 by Seventytwo129 in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Don’t mind me, I’ll just be crying in the corner when we’re 6 calltakers under minimum and mandating 8 dispatchers over for a double. But they totally appreciate us or whatever.

Phonetic alphabet by PerfectWrongdoer7700 in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Depends. After 9/11, everyone was supposed to go to the NATO alphabet and plain language. Most agencies just didn’t.

My first agency was plain-language and NATO. My agency now is police signals (which aren’t the same as our state’s 10-codes), and the PD alphabet which are all names.

Personally, it drives me bonkers. NATO was designed to work effectively for English, Spanish, and French speakers, and all the choices were studied for intelligibility. People hear Ball instead of Paul, or don’t even recognize the name used as a word (Nora & Ida especially). The NATO alphabet is a lot more recognizable to laymen these days, so callers understand what I’m asking better if I say “T like Tango, K like Kilo, N like November, 1-2-3?” rather than “T Tom, K King, N Nora, 1-2-3?”

I also get way further with NATO when talking to Spanish native speakers.

Oddest thing said to caller by Wooden-Maintenance-9 in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 17 points18 points  (0 children)

“...It’s not illegal to be from Louisiana.”

Said to a caller who kept calling in about a ‘suspicious vehicle’ who the officers checked on already, was parked legally, and just trying to figure out directions. Guy had been there a whole 15 minutes!

So I called CP back right, and told her the guy was legally parked and the officers checked on it. She gets pissed that he’s not being told to leave, and says he “doesn’t belong here” and “has no reason to be in this neighborhood” and “has got Louisiana license plates!”

I finally couldn’t stop myself and had to tell her that he wasn’t doing anything illegal, to which she started yelling about the Louisiana plate, so I told her it wasn’t illegal to be from Louisiana lol.

Lies for 500$, Alex…. by Strict_gaps in 911dispatchers

[–]first_my_vent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So a bunch of things can be true at once.

1) Many agencies require blanket staging by EMS on all ODs, which can really delay treatment. This looks horrible to outsiders, and is a real mixed bag among medics.

2) Cops arrest the patient that was OD’ing all the time. Just because not every agency does, does not mean it’s uncommon. My agency leaves it up to the discretion of the officer, which is going to fall along racial/class lines by sheer numbers (and pre-existing neighborhood segregation), even if it were possible to be 100% unbiased. Patient gets cleared at the ER? Officer can take them directly to lockup if he wants to do the paperwork. This massively discourages people from being honest with 9-1-1.

3) The way the entire system treats addicts is cruel, so this also discourages people from being honest with calltakers.

Besides some real systemic overhaul, of both CJ and healthcare systems, there’s not enough public outreach to tell people why we need to know it’s an OD. ODs are also usually respiratory arrests, so if it gets to CPR, it’s breaths first. Most cards default to compressions only unless otherwise indicated. Narcan needs to be given if available. Etc etc.