Again….JUST BECAUSE YOU ARRIVE BY AMBULANCE AT THE HOSPITAL DOES NOT MEAN YOU GET BUMPED TO THE HEAD OF THE LINE. There may be people who are far sicker than you are.

Folks….paramedicine is a TOUGH job. These dedicated folks tend to see the worst that humanity has to offer. Your little sniffle does not take precedence over someone elses gunshot wound.

When in doubt if you actually have a medical emergency dial 811. It is a awesome service and helps you decide what the next best step is, whether it is going to the pharmacy to get something or if it’s best to go to the er, or perhaps make an appointment with your family doctor. It’s a great service for new parents that have questions or someone who wants to know the answer to some of those weird questions. Wish 811 was promoted a little more to help alleviate er’s and clinics.

Another issue with 911 that needs attention is when there is a DO GOODER going down the highway and sees a car in the ditch. Without stopping and seeing they call 911 and give a vague description and poor location of the scene. Meanwhile myself (an ex volunteer)and a few other volunteers are dispatched to an accident that doesn`t exist putting all of our lives now in unneccessary danger.

Good point readsinthedark. This is the first time that I have heard of 811. Not that I would make any (not necessary calls) to 911.

Hopefully those calls listed above are not indicative of our society in Prince George or we are in big trouble.

They need to find a way to resolve unnecessary use of the 911 service, the emergeny ward, and the waste of doctors time. There are sufficient **legitimate** illness in this City without having to have these services wasted by less than sincere individuals.

Ya i`d like to apologize about the beer thing.

oh,and the person with the dead crow…..it`s a very bad omen.

In addition to 8-1-1 if your a hypochondriac and you have a computer you can give yourself any disease you think you might have online and just check yourself into the loonie bin.

To tractor. I use to be one of those do gooders. We were coming back from Pk in blowing snow little visability icy roads and I saw a van down the embankment only because my friend had overhead lights on and we caught a glimpse of it We didn’t dare stop because of road conditions – visability was too poor and we would have just become an accident and debated whether we should call 911 when we got into cell range. Basically the RCMP said because we reported it they had no choice but to go and check it out and made me feel like crap for doing so. So don’t worry. This do gooder has learned his lesson. If I can’t stop safely to check it out. I’m going to be like sgt Schulz. – I see nothing.

Why don’t the authorities go after the people who make these really stupid calls? Even a phone call back to them might wake some of them up. By a policeman, of course. All the 911 ads should include “811 if you’re not sure its an emergency”.

ski50: If it was a member of your family or someone you really cared about (unbeknownst to you), would you still really not stop?

I came across an injured fellow one time away out in the bush. He’d rolled his pickup down a fifty foot bank in a bad snowstorm. I couldn’t believe that three people had stopped and then refused to take him to help.

Yeah, sgt. Shultz is not a good example. If you notice car down an embankment, and there are terrible road conditions, call! Really, isn’t that their job to get off their asses and go check it out?

Yeah, sgt. Shultz is not a good example. If you notice car down an embankment, and there are terrible road conditions, call! Really, isn’t that their job to get off their asses and go check it out?

There has been times when you get three calls throughout the day on the SAME vehicle. Even after you ribbon it off.
Another time we had a call on a pickup that had been there for the past two weeks and it was ribboned off and it also had six inches of snow on it

I thought that was the job of road maintenance to ribbon off vehicles that have already been checked, thereby avoiding the need to call 911? They after all patrol the roads and should be aware of what is new and what is not. Also they have sat phones too.

The 811 service really needs to be better publicized. Otherwise, the problem with discouraging people from calling 911 is that people with medical problems that do require urgent treatment may not get it. There are obvious cases of abuse like the ones listed in the article, but there are also cases where you don’t know how sick you are.

Last year I called 911 for myself for the first time ever. I was alone at home and had been feeling increasingly sick for two days, with symptoms that I eventually realized were not those of anything I was familiar with. I am pretty sophisticated medically, but just didn’t know what was going on. As it turned out, it was potentially fatal and it was a good thing I got to the ER. You don’t want to discourage people in a situation like that from doing something about it.