S01.E03: Next of Kin

[NJRadioGuy]

54 minutes ago, Calamity Jane said:

I can vouchsafe that a serious emergency can seriously impair one's ability to think rationally.  Many years ago (1993), my husband had a seizure and stopped breathing. Speaking to the 911 operator was a nightmare - I could barely recall our last name, and our address had completely escaped me.  My 9-year-old daughter had to write it for me so I could relay it to 911.  I was better but still struggling when the paramedics arrived, but my thinking brain switched back on shortly afterwards.  It was a big lesson in what can happen when you are faced with a dire situation. Having the address of a landline come up automatically now is a great improvement, also GPS on rescue vehicles because our street is hard to find. 

Yeah, I think by now everywhere in the U.S. and Canada is part of E911 (enhanced 911). The "enhanced" part is ANI-ALI. Automatic number identification, automatic-location-information. If you dial 911 by accident and immediately hang up without saying a word, at least here in northeast NJ, you will see a patrol car roll up to ensure everything's OK. Phase 1 cell system for ANI-ALI gives the dispatcher a mobile callback number. A phase-2 system gives precise lat/long coordinates that pop up on a map showing exactly where you are calling from. I've seen this is use and it's frighteningly accurate. I'm betting you're never see that plot device used in the movies or TV, though. Takes all the drama out of the call!

VOIP systems like Magic Jack and other similar services do pose a problem, however, in that the number is completely portable. I don't know how that's handled. Landlines and cell phones do work properly, though. Supposedly NG911 (next gen) will address these, as well as texting to 911. I'm not sure where that is now in terms of national rollout.

[Calamity Jane]

^

Very good to know!  (I don't currently have the ability to "like" posts since yesterday's update).  Back in the early 90s a house at the end of our block burned at night, and we all stood around listening to the fire engine sirens circling around and around, failing repeatedly to find our little street. Glad those days are over!

[NJRadioGuy]

3 hours ago, Calamity Jane said:

Very good to know!  (I don't currently have the ability to "like" posts since yesterday's update).  Back in the early 90s a house at the end of our block burned at night, and we all stood around listening to the fire engine sirens circling around and around, failing repeatedly to find our little street. Glad those days are over!

The little heart ("like") icon is now on the bottom-right of a post. I had to look for it myself after the update.

We hope those days are over, but someone will always fall through the cracks. That's the nature of the beast, even today in the age of GPS. It's even worse since there's a trend to centralize dispatch in major call centers, so it's police personnel dispatching fire and EMS over the radio. Years ago, the only people working the radio in fire department dispatch offices were sworn firefighters who knew the entire city or region inside out and backwards. They knew that 420-b Elm Street wasn't actually on Elm St. at all, but a basement unit off Oak St. instead. Nowadays there's computer aided dispatching that's supposed to know all this stuff. Supposed to. But when it's $10/hr PD dispatchers with 2 months on the job instead of FD lifers then stuff happens. Not a slag on all PD dispatchers (some most definitely), but the powers that be have dumbed down the position.

I came across a car fire on the old Koszkiusko Bridge in Queens about 15 years ago. Called 911 and got a civilian PD call taker. Stated a car fire just occurred on the Koszkiusko bridge, I-278, southbound, unknown entrapment. Send FD and PD for traffic. Script reader refuses to get the trucks rolling unless I gave her a cross street. It was on the damned expresway on a bridge over the Gowanus Canal. There was no cross street. I gave up after 5 minutes of her idiocy. Figured some else must have called and got a normal person. Heard it go over Queens about a minute or so later as northbound. One engine. Needless to say they call for the cavalry as soon as they see the smoke. Nobody died, thankfully, but it was a mess for hours. Yes, I made a formal complaint in writing that night (and thankfully I knew someone).

[Ailianna]

Not all cities use police dispatchers for fire/EMT or even for police.  The city I'm currently living in, although Fire/EMS have their own dispatchers, neither they nor police dispatchers work for any of the departments.  They are entirely separate, "Office of Emergency Services" (OES) that has non-sworn personnel who dispatch for everyone.

[candall]

With so many new shows, I had four 9-1-1's stacked up on my DVR before I gave it a chance.  I love it.  Maybe it's because I took such a huge first bite, but I think they're doing an excellent job proportioning the personal stories with the nailbiter rescues.  Really top-notch cast, with Peter Krause, Connie Britton, Angela Bassett.  I have a mad crush on Aisha Hinds now.  Even the guy playing the idiot eye-candy role gets to have a little growth and finesse.

 

Little bit of a side-eye that a gay man comes out to his family and a woman as savvy as Athena would conclude:  "Okay, we'll just give up the physical part and everything else stays the same."

Bonus points for Chimney's girlfriend.  So classic that Sargent Do-right would be the stand up guy telling her to get her butt down to the hospital, but above average writing that she recognizes:  ". . .until he wakes up, until he's out of the hospital, until he's well, if ever."

I can see both sides of Connie Britton's dilemma with her mother:  good job, show.

 

So, big fan.  Going to watch the plane crash now. . .

[SmithW6079]

I know I shouldn't have, but I laughed out loud when the bounce house went sailing away.

I like Connie Britten and Abby's story with her mom, but she needs to get more professional pronto. Calling a firefighter on a rescue call? Likewise for him, dude, you're on the job; you don't take a personal call.

As someone posted upthread, I think it's Connie Britten doing all the "9-1-1, what's your emergency?" voiceovers.

[Tatum]

At first I thought the fire captain was being a bit hard on the girlfriend (it seems like Chimney was making the choice to exploit his on the job experiences for sexual attraction and was straight up lying to her about being able to cook- not sure how eating his food and listening to his stories makes her "manipulative"), but I did think it was shitty she wouldn't go to the hospital. I get where her concern is, and she's not wrong. But even if she knew a breakup was inevitable (even before the accident), she still presumably cares about the guy.

 

Also, did they live together? Or did the firefighters just bring food over to her house? I find that a little strange if she was not married or engaged to him, or at least living with him. Given how casual she seemed to consider the relationship prior to the proposal, it seems unlikely bringing food to a girlfriend of a relatively short time would be high on anyone's priority list.

[Whimsy]

On ‎1‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 10:43 PM, AgentRXS said:

I couldn't believe that scene. Both the husband and his boyfriend "ain't shit" for doing that. Why would either one of them think its OK for the boyfriend  to actually enter the hospital? The boyfriend needed to drop his ass off and and send a follow up text later. If he was the one who insisted on being there, the husband should have had enough sense to know now isn't the time. Especially since they both thought it was because their daughter was struggling with accepting her dad's lifestyle.

I just can't with Abby and the Rookie. If they are phone buddies, then why the hell haven't they informed each other of their work schedules? I can't imagine a real life fire-fighter taking a personal call on-scene.

I edited your post just to the two things I wanted to respond to. 

1. Yes, I was also completely side-eyeing the boyfriend.  Why the hell was he just standing there??  They knew it would be uncomfortable.  There was no reason he had to go into the hospital.  Athena and her husband still live together, so it wasn't like he was needed for the ride home. 

2. They don't take calls on-scene.  Any time I call my husband and he's on a call, he calls me afterwards.

 

On ‎1‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 3:25 AM, MissGradenko said:

Oh, @Laina, I felt so heartbroken for Athena. I couldn’t imagine being a mom who found her child like that, and dealing with the issues she’s going through with her husband. When he came to the hospital with his date, I felt for her. Wow. To probably see a person he was with made it more real for her.

A friend of mine found her daughter like that, except her daughter didn't survive. That scene was very hard to watch.

On ‎1‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 3:42 PM, Tatum said:

Also, did they live together? Or did the firefighters just bring food over to her house? I find that a little strange if she was not married or engaged to him, or at least living with him. Given how casual she seemed to consider the relationship prior to the proposal, it seems unlikely bringing food to a girlfriend of a relatively short time would be high on anyone's priority list.

I actually can see they would check on her and stuff.  Not that it's shown in this show, but firefighters are really like a family and get together socially.  The wives and significant others are there too and we all get to know each other.  If something happened to one of our guys, we'd check on their loved one whether or not they were married or not living together.

[LisaM]

I'm not sure that I have the heart (or the stomach) to watch some of the rescues. I had to FF through the rebar through the head. Likely will not watch the plane crash as that is one of my biggest fears. 

Haven't seen Mariette Hartley in ages. Used to love the commercials she did with James Garner many years ago. 

I'm ready for there to be more of a tie between Athena, Abby and Bobby. 

[Chas411]

Quote

Retroactively, when Athena told him last week that she could live in a sexless but loving marriage, his reaction really ticked me off. He claims to love her and people who really love each other can live in a sexless but loving relationship for health reasons, why not for this reason if he really loved her?

I find her husband to be an insensitive asshole. Bringing his new boo to the hospital where their teenage kid is there after having taken an overdose.

Wow.

I can't stand Chimney. He gets the worst dialogue but he's also a whiny pain. I think he's the weakest character and Im including Buck the sex addict when I say this.

Edited September 24, 2018 by Chas411