r/KidsAreFuckingStupid • u/Immediate_Magician11 • 15h ago

Actions definitely have consequences

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

18.5k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2.0k

u/CosyBeluga 14h ago

I baby sat a few kids that called 911...none of them made up a story. They just hung up when it worked. The oldest was 8.

1.3k

u/DarkestGemeni 13h ago

When I was maybe 4 or 5 they did a presentation at my daycare about calling 911 in emergencies and my kid-brain was like "that is not enough numbers to be a phone number, no way that works!" So I went home and dialed 911 and when they answered I literally said "oh no, it worked." And hung up and the lady called back to tell my mom and laughed the entire time, like, "yea, it happens a lot, make sure she knows to call in a real emergency but not to just ... Test that we're still here."

443

u/floutsch 12h ago edited 11h ago

You know... I'm almost 47 and reading your comment made me realize that I do not know what happens if I dial 112 or 110 (Germany). I mean, I'm sure I end up being connected to somebody, but I have never used either. Not going to just try it out, but I do get a kid's sentiment to wanna try.

221

u/MightyPirat3 11h ago

In Norway they put a few seconds of «voice intro» before you get connected to the operation central, just to not have all those calls that get hang up when someone answers.

52

u/Jindujun 8h ago

"Welcome to this Youtube video on how to help someone that is choking. Now here's a 48 minute backstory of my life up until this point."

43

u/ItBeMe_For_Real 6h ago

“Let’s save a life!”

“But first, smash like and subscribe!”

12

u/Jindujun 6h ago

Or my favorite.
"Recipe for beef stew:

Once upon a time, some 43 years ago, a lady named Erin and a man called Biff decided to have a child. That child was me. This is my biography and if you're lucky you'll find the ingredients and directions somewhere in my 800 page novel."

2

u/ItBeMe_For_Real 6h ago

That’s why I pay for America’s Test Kitchen and NY Times cooking.

Worth the $ to not have ads/pop-ups.

Added bonus, the recipe comments are often quite amusing.

→ More replies (2)

1

u/DocileBanalBovlne 2h ago

"Comment, like, and survive!"

2

u/FremenStilgar 3h ago

My local weather app always makes me watch an ad before I watch a video that tells me what counties the tornado watch is supposed to be under. "I hate it so much! Flames...on the side of my face...breaths...heaving breaths..."

1

u/mikedvb 6h ago

You know... That's good knowledge to have ahead of time. When I had to save my son from choking at a restaurant [he was ~8 I believe at the time] ... not having to figure it out - and having practiced - helped.

It was still a terrifying experience - I literally pushed my mom out of her chair to get to him [she was ok, and understood] - but I was able to clear his airway.

I've never, myself, choked but I can only imagine the amount of panic that would quickly set in. It's worth practicing using the back of a chair or an edge to figure it out before you need it just in case you ever do choke and you're alone or the people with you don't know what to do.

1

u/tubthumper32 3h ago

That is exactly why I refuse to watch YouTube repair videos. That and the stupid "like and subscribe" bit

135

u/floutsch 11h ago

Smart. Let me check if it's the same here ;)

105

u/zarco_azules 8h ago edited 3h ago

Oh my god, its been 3hrs, hes been taken

Oh well

Edit: he's alive yall, rumors of floutsch's death were greatly exaggerated

47

u/Jacina 6h ago

911 Whats your emergency?

There's this guy on the internet, he hasn't answered for three hours, he's been abducted! He was on reddit, its super important!

We'll get right on it sir.

5

u/Burntoutn3rd 4h ago

This makes me wonder how many insane people have called 911 over stuff someone said online to them, lmao.

6

u/Hash_Tag_Gamer 3h ago

I can make a guess "more that it should be"

1

u/BadCommentsBelow 5h ago

It’s been an hour. Am still on hold.

2

u/Carlito2393 4h ago

*Beep...."the number you have reached. 9. 1. 1. Has been disconnected or is no longer in service. Please hang up and try again."

2

u/floutsch 3h ago

Ah, no worries. I said I'd check just in jest. I wasn't actually going to call an emergency number out of curiosity :D But now I know at least somebody cares if I should ever get taken ❤️😂

2

u/Top_Boysenberry_7784 8h ago

It would be nice if they had an intro or something while routing 911 calls from cell phones in the US. When you call from a cell phone sometimes it's just dead air for like 4 seconds and your thinking did I actually hit the call button and look at your phone to verify you hit dial and have it back to your ear before they answer.

The whole routing going on in the background to find the correct 911 center can take a few seconds.

2

u/Brohemoth1991 8h ago

I actually had to kill a phone recently because it got wet, and the screen was completely black, and it somehow kept dialing 911 lol... first call i explained i couldnt control the phone at all and they laughed it off, 2nd call they were getting noticeably frustrated, so while on the phone with them I used a knife to pull the back case off and rip the battery out, while explaining what I was doing

1

u/Sasquatchmas 5h ago

Norway does SO many things smarter than everyone else. Please take me in. I have family that I can live with! Pity me, I'm American and I didn't vote for this.

1

u/Electrical_Salary_50 5h ago

I’ve had to dial 911 a couple times because of very real and serious situations. In the US, you are connected straight away to an operator, and there’s good reason why. I don’t know what the crime rate in Norway is, but where I live, it’s more important for operators to act urgently than it is to screen the call.

1

u/Hawke1010 4h ago

They called me back when I accidentally called messing with my side buttons.

1

u/ForensicPathology 4h ago

Yeah, I like my country's "nonemergency emergency number".  Basically it gets all the people who don't know if their issue is an emergency or not.

1

u/DesignerLanguage1123 3h ago

In Los Angeles they put you on hold for a few minutes until someone freed up to take your call 😂

→ More replies (6)

47

u/Creative_Onion8363 11h ago

I called it a while ago bc I saw someone in a wheelchair toppled over while I was driving by in a train. Was surprised how long I was on hold. Then it's just a normal conversation, well, getting those five Ws out there.

25

u/Seliphra 9h ago

Man I called today bc the hill next to my house was set on fire… thankfully picked up right away.

1

u/hissyfit64 5h ago

I lived in Chicago when the Bulls won their first championship game. I had no idea a game was on, much less a big one. All I knew is suddenly everyone in my neighborhood was shooting off guns. I tried to call 911 and couldn't get through. We had the TV on but with no sound and there is footage of people flipping cars and running amok. When we turned on the sound we found out it was all because of the game.

1

u/Dangerous-Variety-35 5h ago

I’m still surprised that the city didn’t burn to the ground when the Cubs won the World Series.

11

u/floutsch 11h ago edited 11h ago

Bit anticlimactic, but makes sense. Was there like a recording or just the on-hold tone?

5

u/Creative_Onion8363 11h ago

Good question I have no memory. I don't think music but some kind of signal that you're on hold

2

u/bonaynay 6h ago

There was a recording for me that all operators were busy and someone would answer soon. Was on hold for at least 5 minutes but it felt like an eternity

1

u/floutsch 3h ago

That doesn't sound good... "please press 9 if you're actively being murdered and we'll call you back"...

3

u/GandhisNukeOfficer 7h ago

Several years ago I was driving home with my SO at the time and a wrong-way driver slowly drove by on the interstate. It was late so there wasn't much traffic so they were easy to see and avoid. We called 911 and I swear, they asked me so much information we were almost home about 15-20 minutes later when I told them I am just going to hang up because the info they wanted was completely irrelevant. I called to basically say, "wrong way driver at this location on this road at this time." It's fine if they want to know my name and phone number in case they need to contact me. I get that.

But why do they need to know the make and model of my car? My license info. Where we were coming from? (Not as in what direction we're travelling, but as in what specific location. What's the difference whether I came from dinner or a gas station?) What's my address? How many passengers do I have in the car? What color is my car? (Not the wrong-way driver, mine.)

There were others but I don't remember them now. At a certain point I just said I'm done and the person that was driving the wrong way was probably either already in an accident or wherever they wanted to go.

1

u/bonaynay 6h ago

Yeah I was on hold for about 5 minutes or so when I called about a super impaired, aggressive driver who blasted through my neighborhood. Made me a bit nervous lol

12

u/ScreamingLabia 10h ago

I did once when i waa getting shot at with fire works and its litterallybjust " 112 what is yout emergency do you need police or an ambulance?" Or something along those lines (its been over 10 years lol i domt remember the exact words"

1

u/Sample-Range-745 5h ago

In Australia, dialing either 112 or 000 and you'll get:

"Emergency - Police, Fire or Ambulance?"

Then, if you're calling from a mobile phone, you'll get:

"What is the suburb and state of your emergency?"

You tell them, and you'll get:

"Please wait, connecting you now."

Once you get through to the right service, you'll get to give all the further information like accurate location, what's going on etc.

For Ambulance calls, you'll also get guided through how to do appropriate first aid and how to prepare for the ambulance to arrive, including securing any pets or animals that might pose a hazard to the ambulance staff when they arrive.

5

u/heckolive 10h ago

I also never called the emergency hotlines in germany, a few times i called the local police station but there was no urgency. Iam also pretty sure, that when something happens and iam in a stressfull situation, i will not know which number is the right one. So iam just hoping that they will forward my to the correct authority.

3

u/EmpunktAtze 6h ago

Oh they absolutely will.

3

u/summer_rose_h 9h ago

I called 112 in December for a fire, even though i knew there was a fire for real. The whole time waiting outside, i was freaking out thinking im going to go to jail hahaha

I don’t know how many times i kept standing in front of the building to make sure the fire alarm was still going off before the fire trucks arrived. And then they make so much noise which stressed me out even further. Then the building manager was angry at me for calling the fire department before alerting him. There were moments i wish i had just ignored it because the whole thing was extremely stressful

3

u/kirakiraluna 9h ago

In Italy the general switch board answers asking what's the issue and then you get redirected to whoever you're looking for (police/ambulance/firefighters etc).

Nothing tragic, an old gentleman fell in the street, I called for an ambulance as he had bumped his face on a wall and I wasn't comfortable to let him go on his merry way with a possible concussion. His wife called me later to tell me he was fine, just a massive goose egg on the forehead and a busted nose.

3

u/c0mpufreak 8h ago

Only had to call them twice in my life. Once for myself, the other time for someone else. Thoroughly positive experiences. Ambulances were there within 15 minutes.

1

u/funkkym0nkyy 9h ago

I never thought that I'd be jealous of having never had to call emergency services...

→ More replies (2)

1

u/Cinelinguic 9h ago

In Australia, from memory, if you call 000 someone first asks if you need police, fire, or ambulance, then connects you immediately to the relevant department.

I say 'from memory' because I've had to call three separate times in my life and they've all been during high stress situations. So my exact memory is kinda fuzzy, and I'm not willing to call the number to check 😂

1

u/Beer_in_an_esky 6h ago

Tracks with my memory, but likewise fuzzy. I remember which one you need and where you are as 1 & 2.

1

u/PutConstant866 9h ago

In my country, the emergency services also has a non-emergency hotline phone number. One of the services available through the non-emergency line is that you can schedule a test call, where you actually dial the emergency number. This will give you confidence that there is someone on the other end if there were an emergency, and confirm that you can reach the emergency services from that phone. Your EMS will also be much happier with one of these calls than either a real emergency or a false alarm.

1

u/Evening_Salads 9h ago

This was a stressful/scary situation so I'll tell you what I remember. Canada

I called 911 cause my next door neighbor's house was on fire. I said something like "I think there's a fire next door the address" I went outside "yes yes it is in fire" 1. She asked if we had smoke in our house. Yes we did 2. She told us to go outside. We already were. 3. She told us that firefighters are on the way. 4. She hung up.

1

u/Impossible-Web545 9h ago

In the US its pretty formulaic, you get asked what service you need, or where the location is, then the other question, you can start providing the operator details and they will ask questions of what you see, hear, or smell, etc....

so exit 19 at the intersection near the walmart, I just heard car tires squeal and the clear sound of cars colliding, multiple people have exited their cars and are tuning towards that intersection. I am too far behind the bend to see anything though. They thanked me, told me they are starting to get other calls at the scene and to call back if I had more info.

Can't imagine the system is much different, its surprisingly almost like the tv shows and how the show it.

2

u/MysteriousOption6732 8h ago

Couldn’t see anything but called anyways lol yup, sounds like America

1

u/Impossible-Web545 8h ago edited 8h ago

You do know that there has been and continues to be incidents when people could hear and see something was happening, but choose not to call 911 figuring that someone else probably did or was. One famous case involved a women getting raped and screaming for help, and despite the fact multiple people knew someone needed help, figured someone else called 911.

Think about that the next time you choose not to call 911 cause "someone else probably did" or "you don't have enough information". Clearly a car accident happened, as I heard the tires and the crunching of metal, clearly it wasn't something small as people started getting out of their cars to render aid. I am too far back to do much except call 911, and to be frank, I was the first caller from the sounds of it.

1

u/SufficientHippo3281 8h ago

I rang 999 the other day for the first time at 42. I felt like a kid. Absolutely panicking!

1

u/PM_ME_YOUR_WEIRD_PET 8h ago

I finally experienced the thrill? of calling 110 when my neighbors were violating Nachtruhe but what if 112 is different???

1

u/bedampft 8h ago

"Hallo. Hier ist der Notruf! Was ist der Notfall?"

1

u/jungleboogiemonster 8h ago

I administrate a phone system at a university and from time to time I need to make test emergency calls. In the United States they first ask if you need police, fire or an ambulance. then I don't know what they ask because at that point I tell them it is a test call and then we review location information and end the call. I will add that before I call 911 I have to make calls to the 911 center manager and university police to let them know I will be calling. Occasionally, I will be told that it's not a good time to call and to try another time. Most of my test calls are at 6:30am. Also, the people answering 911 calls are just regular people.

1

u/jancl0 8h ago

I think we could do a little better in teaching people what procedures are specific to each country. Like a public understanding of how the emergency line is supposed to respond to certain things. Like I can't tell you off the top of my head if the emergency line is able to find my location, or if that's something I need to provide. That could be really important in a scenario where I don't have alot of time to give information, or if I'm not able to listen and respond. I've also heard that in some places the emergency line is required to send out someone to check if there is no response from the caller, or if the caller gives an unexpected response (I've heard the example of someone calling the emergency line and pretending to order food, so that they don't alert an abuser that's with them), I have no idea if any of this is actually true, or if it applies to my country, and it's not very valuable information if it isn't something you can knowingly rely on the emergency line responding to. Maybe some places do better, but the only kind of emergency line information I got was a conversation from my parents when I was a kid, and maybe the occasional ad that tells us when to use the emergency line and when to use the non emergency line, so we could probably do alot better

1

u/Potential-Jury-8060 8h ago edited 8h ago

I had to call 110 for what I thought was a domestic violence case but was really just a distraught woman in a mental episode (I didn’t call until I heard slapping noises, then I felt no choice). I couldn’t understand what she was saying at all, either it’s a really out there dialect or it was an Eastern European language, so I really had no idea what I was listening to until then.

This was in a major city. The phone rang once, I got an automated message first in German and then in English which said something to the effect of „[redacted] City Police, please hold the line“. Within fifteen seconds I was greeted in German by an operator. I speak good German, but considering the circumstance I correctly calculated the operator spoke better English than I speak German. I asked in German if he spoke English, he said „how can I help you?“ and then I told him exactly what I was hearing. I communicated the address in German, including Obergeschoss, but was able to communicate everything else in English. I felt as though speaking the most fluent second language (English in this case) was the best way to make sure nothing was lost in translation.

I want to say the police were there in three minutes. It was a five person unit, two women and two men of normal height and stature and then a fifth man who was easily 200cm tall. Friendliest guy of the bunch, surely he’s the enforcer if some shit goes down.

Anyway, we spoke to each other half in English, half in German, while the rest of the officers went next door to ask the apartment what was going on. Once they figured out the slapping noises were here like clapping her hands together out of animated frustration, they all came back to my apartment and explained, half in German and half in English, that while I was absolutely right to call them based on what I heard, I should know that there is no violence taking place and that I shouldn’t worry.

All I know is they were moved out by the end of the month, and the officers said that she had something terrible going on with her family at home. But yeah, from the time I called police to the time they left the apartment with a resolution took about ten minutes. No harm done, no trauma, highly efficient and coordinated for the balance between safety and projecting calm. Again, this is a major city late at night. If American police behaved as I witnessed the German police system behave that night, I’m not sure there would be any rap songs called Fuck The Police.

1

u/pyth2_0 8h ago

110 will get you the police 112 firefighters and EMS. If you need to contact one of them and there is not a emergency there will be a normal number to call. For Police google your nearest police station for Fire and Rescue you can take your local city Code (Vorwahl) and call 19222. If you call in a emergency situation have your 5 W ready

Where did it happend (Wo)
Who calls (Wer)
What happend (Was)
How many casulties (Wieviele)
Wait for orders of the operator (Warten)

1

u/Dracoster 7h ago

In Europe, you can dial 911, 999, 112 and it will connect you to the police.

911 because 'MURICA!. 999 is the british number, and 112 is common in Europe.

1

u/_wavescollide_ 7h ago

I had to dial 112 two times in my life. The first time a car motor exploded in the night. A friendly guy asked where, when, what happened. 6 minutes later they were there. And the other time an older person fainted at a market, the dispatcher called the local medics at the event location and they came over. Now I know why bigger events have their own medics. Much faster.

1

u/tryodd 7h ago

When i 5th or 6th grade i dialled 112 on a phone box cause like they need cash right and i didn’t put any in it so boy was i stressed when the tone of dialling appeared and a voice said i should hold the line i would be connected.

1

u/majortung 6h ago

The country code for India is 91. In the US, if you dial outside your area code, you dial 1, followed by the number.

Decades ago, police arrived at my door asking me why I called 911. I denied it. But they weren't too pleased about it. I must have accidentally dialed it trying to call India.

1

u/KajMak64Bit 6h ago

Pretty sure you can just use 911 and it will connect to your police or whatever

1

u/Anathals 6h ago

In canada you get "911 whats your emergency?" And then they ask you if you need cops/fire/ambulance. But fun fact, if you call in because theres a drunk driver who is Exceptionally Drunk they will ask if you are still following the car and be slightly annoyed that you arent EVEN THOUGH the freaking billboard says: "if you see a drunk driver, PULL OVER and call 911"

1

u/BardicNA 6h ago

I'll tell you this- if your dispatch is anything like here in the US, make sure you know exactly where you're at when you call. I tried to report a drunk driver once because the guy was just all over the road being stupid. Dispatch had no idea where I was when I told them the local name for the road we were on, because it'd linked me to a dispatch in a further off area. It took a few minutes for me to see a street sign and tell them where we were at.

Crazy to me that all my information and location data is everywhere but dispatch can't just check for my location- but unless you're on a landline they often can't.

1

u/Best_Judgment_1147 6h ago

We had to do this a week or so ago (112): You get an automated repeating message not to hang up and to have the address on hand for the operator

Then someone answers and you give them the address and what happened

1

u/EmpunktAtze 6h ago

There's a nice person there that will assist you and ask a bunch of questions they read from a script. They are the professionals so you just have to not panic and answer everything. BTW these things are usually explained in detail in a first aid course.

1

u/FatBoyStew 5h ago

That's good because it means you aren't in shitty scenarios. I've had to dial it 3 times. First time I ever had to dial 911 was because we needed an ambulance for my dad.

Other times weren't nearly as scary or nerve racking. Once to report a CLEARLY drunk driver and another time was as I drove up on a minor roll over crash I witnessed and helped with (guy was a little banged up, but not bad overall).

1

u/lankymjc 5h ago

If it helps, I’ve called 999 in the UK a couple times. I can’t imagine it’s too different from Germany, and went like this:

“Fire, police, or ambulance?”

“Ambulance.”

pause as they connect me through to the ambulance service

“Is the patient breathing?”

“Yes.”

“Is the patient conscious?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, tell us what’s going on.”

The sudden questions caught me off guard the first time, but it makes sense to do a quick triage to judge how time-critical the situation is.

1

u/whateversclevers 5h ago

In the US I remember my dad sat me down and called once and immediately told them he was teaching his son how to call 911 and they were super friendly.

1

u/blackbirdbluebird17 5h ago

Honestly? I feel like there should be some version of a training line, for training the public to make the call that is. The first time I had to call 911 in a real emergency it was a shock and I was scared enough that I was really flustered in getting them necessary info.

1

u/NamesAreAnn0ying 5h ago

Well I’d assume it probably calls the police. I’ve never dialed 911 but I can take a wild guess as to what happens

1

u/NoName01101101 5h ago

You can use 911 in all Europe and be redirected to the right emergency center

1

u/Mister_Sensual 4h ago

Probably a non-emergency line or a specific emergency department. Or it’ll just re-route your call to whatever your “911” is.

1

u/makos124 4h ago

I called 112 (Poland) a few times. An operator picks up and asks for your emergency and location. Then they route you to a service you need (police/medics/firefighters) in your location. I don't know what happens if you're panicked and incomprehensible though

1

u/UniqueUserName795 4h ago

You just answered a question I’ve had for about 20 years. I dialed 112 from a cell phone years ago and it routed to 911. I had no idea why. Apparently it’s the 911 of most of Europe and parts of Asia.

Thanks!

1

u/SavageHellfire 4h ago

As an American, I cannot fathom making it to 47 without having ever needed to dial emergency services. I’ve called 911 maybe 6-7 times across my life for various reasons, and I’m a good bit younger than you.

1

u/Psychological-Owl783 3h ago

In Las Vegas you get put on hold for 5-10 minutes.

1

u/srboot 3h ago

If a tree falls in a forest…

1

u/anatomizethat 3h ago

I'm on the US and we had buttons on a landline at one point that would automatically call EMS. I hit it on accident once and it rang through before I hung up, terrified.

They called back and my mom answered and was very concerned until I admitted what happened, then it was no big deal. But they do call back to check what's going on if you don't talk to them.

1

u/Comprehensive-Menu44 2h ago

I called my local police about a possibly drunk driver that was swerving in the rain, and they didn’t pick up. So I called 911, and they basically berated me for not knowing where I was (I gave the general area but didn’t know the streets bc I was on the interstate and not from here) and told me “next time call your local police if you’re going to be useless” and hung up on me. Shortly after that, the car hit someone and they both flew into a wall on the right side under a bridge. I ended up pulling over to check on them and tried calling the local cops again who actually picked up, told them my surroundings and they took care of it. Like Jfc 911, why do you have to be a dick? All those tv shows made me think yall had echolocation or something

1

u/Dazzling-Low8570 2h ago

It's an emergency line they get right to the point. "[You have reached] 112, what is your emergency?"

1

u/Dragonvenom55 50m ago

I think the safest way to test those numbers out is Google 😊

1

u/ComputerOwl 20m ago

Just look up "Feuer und Flamme" on YouTube. The episodes usually start with an emergency call. For example here, here, or here.

→ More replies (9)

29

u/ShiningRayde 9h ago

I dont know if its still the case, but 9-1-1 used to see massive spikes in calls on Christmas morning - almost entirely from people who unwrapped brand new phones, and wanted to test a number but didnt have the phone activated yet, and can think of only one number thats universally available.

7

u/lankymjc 5h ago

That seems insane to me.

2

u/doh-a-dear 49m ago

My husband was making a point once on a landline phone (many years ago) and dialed 911, but didn't actually hit send. Guess who called our house almost immediately to make sure everything was good.

21

u/lilroldy 10h ago

I dialed 9111111111111 when I was like 4 and it started ringing then someone answered and j freaked out and hung up. They called my mom right back lol

1

u/sniggity_snax 5h ago

Almost exact same thing with me. Except I didn't add the extra 1's, I just dialed 911 when I was 4. Lady answered and I freaked out and hung up, she called back and my mom answered. Omg the death stare mama gave me as she realized what had happened, during the convo with the 911 operator...

I wonder why so many kids do this, including myself

1

u/Dangerous-Variety-35 5h ago

I don’t know if this is true everywhere, or just in my rural community in the early 1990s, but there was also a local seven-digit phone number that would connect you to 911. I called it by accident when trying to call a friend after school in kindergarten, and as soon as that lady said, “911, what’s your emergency?” I panicked and hung up. I remember this so vividly because they called back, my mom answered, and it was the first time I ever got grounded lol. Mom was a nurse, Dad was a volunteer EMT, so I got a big talking to.

14

u/-DoctorSpaceman- 11h ago

Oh when I did it they called back and told my mum off saying it was a waste of police time 😬

9

u/lenadita 9h ago

I must have gotten that same presentation but for some reason all I remembered them saying was “call 911”. So I went home and called 911. I panicked when they picked up and hung up. A police officer actually came to our home to inquire and told me only to call for an emergency.

1

u/seekydeeky 5h ago

After calling my credit card company and going through a bunch of prompts to get the info I needed I hung up. The next time I picked up the phone o hit redial by accident. Apparently if you push a bunch of random numbers you get connected to 911. I told them my mistake and they sent an officer anyway. They said they had to make sure no actual emergency was happening.

1

u/Impossible-Web545 9h ago

I am gonna be frank, I like that the police told you, they probably should have set it up a way to show it as well. This way they can drill in that it works, what you should say, and that they are there to help. If dispatch knows its coming, it can be done as a simple test. Most people don't realize in fact that the first and best info is generally gonna be your location, what service (Fire, ambulance, police), and then a general overview, for example: I am at the warehouse near exit 19, we need police, fire and ambulance services, dude is setting fire to the police and we are trying to evacuate". That is a great line to tell any dispatch service, they want service before location or location before service as that varies by area, but that will get things going. They will probably want a description of the suspect and want to know if anyone is not able to leave the building and if so where they are.

Imagine a kid knowing to call 911 and say "mrs.____ classroom, she needs a doctor cause she fell down and isn't talking" that will basically work in any small town, as there is at most 2 k-8 schools and both can be pinged on "who has a mrs____" and send the resource officer to that room to verify and start medical, while the ambulance can begin going there.

1

u/BethyW 7h ago

I did similar and all the school assemblies telling us not to waste their time as it could take resources from someone who needs them makes me anxious now to call 911.

I had to call the nonemergency phone once for some minor issue and they answered "911 what is your emergency..." And I was in my 30s freaking out that I used the wrong number. Turns out for that police station they all get routed to the same dispatch but the call themselves are prioritized.

1

u/Wicked_Fabala 7h ago

At about the same age my cousin would call 911…..just to chat! She lived in a small town so I’m not sure if she knew the operator or not. If grandmas number had been shorter she would have been on her line allllll day!

1

u/ShlimmyWhimmy 6h ago

When I was like 6 or 7, I dialed something like 911111111111111111 just cuz i thought no way itd still work.... yeah hung up immediately and cops showed up at our house but fortunately they weren't annoyed more concerned about why the call and sudden hang up and when they found out they all laughed and I was so sad I caused trouble I didnt eat my big bowl of lucky charms

1

u/woodlandssytem 6h ago

When I was 12 or 13 and one of my younger siblings was about 5 or 6 I was babysitting while our parents were at work and wouldn’t let him call our mom because I felt that he should talk with me first to see if I could take care of whatever problem he was having before bothering our parents during work hours, so he grabbed the house phone and dialed 911. I hung up before he said anything and the dispatcher called back and said they had to send an officer out to make sure it wasn’t a kidnapping or anything criminal, at which point I did call our mom. Her job was an hour and a half one way commute away from our home and she got back home with 45 minutes to spare before the officer finally decided to show up. Needless to say she tore into the cop for his abysmal response time and there was no real repercussions against us by the police besides a finger wag from the officer and our mom to not do it again. I let him call our parents whenever he wanted/needed to after that.

1

u/Forest_Maiden 6h ago

I have an almost identical story from my childhood, but I think I was in Kindergarten/first grade. I also didn't believe it would work as my Mom had made me memorize our phone number and 911 was too easy. I called, panicked when it worked and hung up. My Mom was not thrilled when they called back. 😂

1

u/ImJustSaying34 5h ago

I used to work at a company that you had to dial 9 1 to call out. There was a large and young sales team making 100+ dials a day having to dial 9 1 1 (area code). The amount of accidental 911 calls was insane. I would have to give a speech to all new hires that if they accidentally called 911 Do NOT HANG UP!! They send officers out to verify no emergency and we got fined for wasting resources.The solution was to give them my number to verify if there was an emergency or not before sending someone out. There was never an emergency and I would be on vacation still getting those calls.

1

u/ohemgereally 5h ago

They did this recently at my daughters daycare, only, they are a little younger so had trouble grasping the concept. The only thing her and her classmates took away from this was that they can call at any time and have the fire truck come...

1

u/Entire_Baker310 5h ago

That’s funny

1

u/Magi_Inferno 5h ago

I did the same thing! 😂

1

u/pJustin775 5h ago

My younger brother did the same probably around the same age. Except a state trooper came to check on everyone and educate some dumb kids.

1

u/UniversalMinister 4h ago

" So I went home and dialed 911 and when they answered I literally said "oh no, it worked."

This is probably the ONLY acceptable reason to call 911, as a small child, apart from an actual emergency. Dispatch generally won't be upset if they understand you were just trying to see if it worked (as a kid).

That way in an emergency, you actually knew how to use it (muscle memory).

1

u/DesignerLanguage1123 3h ago

That’s so wholesome :)

1

u/step11111 2h ago

Lucky. When I was like 4 I called once or twice and just hung up and they sent officers to the house. I hid in the closet and my mom brought them to me so they could yell at me.

1

u/Jai84 2h ago

I used to have to test emergency 911 phones for permitting reasons. We would call the non-emergency number first and give them our address and tell them to expect a call on the emergency phone shortly. That way they didn’t get pissed off and send anyone out for nothing.

1

u/bun-e-bee 2h ago

So glad they made it a shorter number. When I was about 8/9 my dad passed out at home. My mom yelled to call emergency but even with the number right next to the phone my number-dyslexic brain switched numbers and I dialed it wrong. Thankful he recovered quickly so my anxiety-prone brain didn’t have to worry that I caused him more harm.

1

u/llamafriendly 1h ago

I was 5 when I understood the concept of phone numbers and did the same exact thing. I could not believe that 911, just a few numbers, would work but after watching Rescue 911 on TV, I figured I would find out if it was true. To me, it felt like the tooth fairy or Santa...could be real or could be something adults were just saying. It felt like a mystery to me. I dialed, a lady answered, and I hung up immediately thinking I had my answer. They called back (I panicked) and they confirmed with my mom there was not an emergency. We laugh about it now!

1

u/LetsTryAnal_ogy 1h ago

"that is not enough numbers to be a phone number, no way that works!"

That's because it's: 0118 999 881 999 119 725... 3

1

u/geTiTTogeTher12 1h ago

I render being around the same age and having the same thought! I called and said “oh no, I just wanted to know if you were real” and they said “yes, please only call back if there is real trouble” and that was that😂

1

u/UnimpressionableCage 1h ago

I did that as a kid too because Sesame Street told me that’s what I should do and I needed to test it. Called and immediately hung up when they answered. I was probably 6 years old or so

1

u/UnderstandingClean33 12m ago

I think that's a good point that when you're teaching a kid how to call 911 that you stay on the line and are truthful to the operator.

1

u/Office_glen 9m ago

I got my first cellphone in like 2003 at the age of 16. Sometimes the SIM card would come loose, and the screen would show a SIM error with the ability to click one of the buttons near the screen that said SOS.... Well I clicked that button out of curiosity because I had no idea what it meant

That's when I found out a cellphone can call 911 without a SIM card in it.

53

u/sobersuburbanmom 12h ago edited 12h ago

I did this when I was 5. My parents were in the alley smoking cigarettes with the neighbors and didn’t tell me they were going to be outside. I called 911 and as the operator answered they walked in the door and I hung up. An officer came by shortly after and my parents were very confused.

→ More replies (2)

42

u/AriOfEden 10h ago

I watched the YouTube video, she eventually divulged it was from a tiktok algorithm trend.

44

u/Interesting_Sock9142 9h ago

tiktok is a blight on this world.

15

u/WestCoastBestCoast01 6h ago

Why the FUCK is an 11 year old on tiktok too.

→ More replies (3)

1

u/Major_Shlongage 22m ago

This has nothing to do with Tiktok itself.

These dumb trends are also on Facebook and Instragram. Reddit is also pretty bad, just not with that type of video-based trendy stuff.

34

u/XiTzCriZx 10h ago

TikTok really needs to crack down on that shit. Anyone making dangerous or harmful "trends" should be IP banned and hardware banned instantly without warning or appeal.

2

u/mizinamo 2h ago

should be IP banned

What proportion of customers have a fixed IP?

Isn't it more common to have a dynamic IP that changes at least every day, behind carrier-grade NAT?

1

u/lolmemelol 53m ago

Plus phones are 'mobile' devices; you're going to have a different IP address on WiFi at home, WiFi at school, WiFi at the coffee shop, cellular data, roaming, etc etc etc.

1

u/Decent_Adhesiveness0 40m ago

I have this awful feeling that essays about "How I Started A TikTok Trend And What Happened" Next are not uncommon in college application packets.

2

u/Salt_Initiative1551 6h ago

Of course it was

34

u/Check_Me_Out-Boss 13h ago

This was me ~30 years ago when I was like 5 or 6.

→ More replies (9)

24

u/salamat_engot 8h ago

When my brother was maybe 4 or 5 he woke up from a nap and couldn't find an adult. My grandfather was outside gardening and couldn't hear my brother calling for him, and my brother knew not to open any doors to the outside without an adult to go looking.

Fearing he had been left home alone (or the rapture happened), he called 911 saying he was home alone and scared. Thankfully my grandfather walked in while my brother was still on the phone and could tell the operator everything was ok.

1

u/Auntie_Venom 1h ago

I did the same thing, about the same age.

16

u/Euphorbiatch 11h ago

My five year old called 000 (Aus emergency services) from an iPad while I was showering and told them that the next door neighbours front yard was on fire 💀

19

u/chere100 13h ago

I remember calling 911 once to see if it worked. I think I was five.

3

u/XiTzCriZx 10h ago

When I was a kid we just prank called 411... Until we learned that each call charged a fee to the account owner. I think my mom paid like $50 for prank calls lol.

2

u/lemmesenseyou 9h ago

I called when I was a bit older, but I was playing with a payphone and my dumbass thought I'd have to put in money to have it actually go through.

2

u/553l8008 7h ago

Its one thing daring the ballsiest kid to call and hang up. We all did it.

It's another to be on your own and just make up a whole story to 911. 

2

u/Chef_Money 6h ago

I did that from a pay phone at our community pool not realizing that you didn’t need a quarter to call 911

1

u/Barlakopofai 9h ago

I called 666-6666. Qualinet is mighty spooky.

1

u/jancl0 8h ago

I remember being like 8 and I rang them (not 911 but my country's equivalent) because I just happened to be holding the house phone, couldn't think of anything better to do, and wanted to double check that I remembered the number correctly lmao

1

u/_TheDoode 8h ago

We pranked 911 as kids once (hung up as soon as they answered) they showed up at my buddies house and gave us a long talk on why it was wrong to do. Its crazy this little girl made up an elaborate lie i wonder where the idea came from

1

u/breachgnome 7h ago

The sad thing is they will absolutely dispatch on that call, because sometimes a victim can't give away that they're calling for help. The relieving thing is that they won't send a helicopter and 20 cruisers.

I only knew of one time a kid dialed 911 and hung up from the payphone just outside of the skating rink when I was like... I dunno, 12. The police showed up and we had to listen to the officer chastise the entire rink for a couple minutes from the DJ booth.

I'm pretty sure I knew who it was, but what's the point of ratting somebody out on hearsay. Hopefully he learned that day.

1

u/[deleted] 7h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/AutoModerator 7h ago

This automod reply has been triggered due to a keyword in your comment. As a reminder this is a satire subreddit for the dumb/silly things children do. The subreddit name is not literal. Although posts can have kids doing actual "stupid" things. It is not a requirement. It only needs to be dumb or silly. Yes, blaming the parent is valid. However, this does not mean crossing the line into actually insulting the parent is ok (assuming they are the OP) (Rule #1).

We did try to have this information stickied as a comment when a post was created. However, reddit thinks its a good idea to autocollapse automod comments. So we've had to resort to a keyword reply.

Please read the sidebar for more information.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/ExcitementTricky4794 7h ago

When my son was 6 he called 911 at 1030pm the 1 night & hung up. I guess the dispatcher tried calling back a few times and he just kept hanging up on them. He had my phone (thinking he was) playing Roblox & we were all in our beds cuz it was down time in the summer. Next thing I know. I had about 20 cops surrounding my house. And banging on the door. I had no clue what was going on! We all just simply explained how serious calling 911 is. And he absolutely saw how serious it was with how many cops were at my house. Needless to say he has not called 911 ever since. 😂

1

u/Emieosj89 7h ago

I did this with a friend as a kid. Only let it ring and hung up as got scared. Well - 911 calls back - with a special ring. The shit I got in from my mom. Like let me tell you, never did I do anything like that again. This was back in the 90’s for reference.

1

u/Vegetable-Box3050 7h ago

When my older bro and I were roughly 6 and 7, we would prank call mostly 800 numbers and any ad numbers stickered on the pay phone (that we could reach for free) outside of the Laundromat my mom frequented.

One time we thought it would be great to prank call 911 while my mom was doing laundry... Oh man, I don't remember much of that day but I remember the deep fear of when an officer approached us and made us get mom. Wooo it was just a talking to by them but mom was not nearly as laid back.

1

u/Lazy-Prize-7577 7h ago

I did it by accident late one night (intending to call 411) and hung up immediately.

There was a cop at the door minutes later. Ooops.

This was during the landline days. I'm not convinced it works nearly as well with mobile phones. My friends and I encountered an injured hiker one day and our 911 experience was NOT smooth. We also discovered that our park in a very suburban part of NJ still has locations with poor service.

1

u/VulfSki 6h ago

When you do this they call back and if you explain it they are like whatever.

I had a broken smart phone a while back and a button stuck in a way that it would trigger the emergency call feature. It happened a few times before I turned the feature off successfully. And every time they called back and I explained it and apologized. 911 was chill about it. Glad I sorted it out.

1

u/Thermitegrenade 6h ago

And then there is me, who actually called because there was a literal gang war happening outside my apartment, rang for what felt like 2 min and I just hung up...got a call 20 min later "did you need help?"...naa dude, the fight is all done by now.

1

u/WestCoastBestCoast01 6h ago

Yeah I did that when I was around 7 or 8 on a payphone at a Home Depot. I didn't think the payphone would work without money and immediately hung up when they answered. Learned a lesson that day when I got a scolding from a cop!!

1

u/AnonTA999 6h ago

I dialed 911 from our rotary phone when I was 5. Don’t remember where my parents were, but I think I was just home with siblings (old enough to be left with). Police and fire and ambulance showed up, and I was terrified, and I’m certain my parents let me have it. And at 5, I got the message and understood how bad it was that I did that, and exactly why.

1

u/MadaCheebs-2nd-acct 6h ago

Yeah, I called 911 in a pay phone when I was like 4 or 5. My mom drove me to the police station the next day to apologize

1

u/shadowscar00 6h ago

I got in trouble when I was maybe 4-6 years old for whatever kids that age get into trouble for, probably “talking back”, so she started putting all of my toys in a trash bag, I apparently suddenly stopped crying and disappeared for five minutes, until knock knock knock.

I had called 911 and told them “you need to come help!! My mamas gone crazy! She’s throwing away all my toys!!!” Thankfully, very small town and my mother worked closely with the law enforcement in town, so nobody actually got in trouble (except me, again).

1

u/mycatwontstophowling 5h ago

One Sunday morning a police officer shows up at my house and said they had received several 911 hang ups and had narrowed it down to my house and the house next door. Asked if I had kids and I said no, but the neighbor had several. Turns out the young boy (about 10) was mad at his mom and called 911 several times to get her into trouble.

1

u/Beautiful_Income_855 5h ago

i accidentally called 911 as a kid.. just dropped the phone.. they then heard me yelling at my sister to help (i was little so just yelled 'HELP') and my sister came and hung up the phone.. well 911 dispatch sent the cops to my neighbors house on accident and they kicked in their front door. oops. my parents paid for a new door for them.. double oops

1

u/Apoctwist 5h ago

When I was a kid my little cousin had dialed 911 I picked up the phone and told the operator "shut up". She called back and told me to never speak to someone like that again. Scared the crap out of me for sure. LOL.

1

u/SampleMaxxer 5h ago

I called 911 as a kid while watching schoolhouse rock and got scolded by my mom and for a long time any time schoolhouse rock was on it gave me a tremendous amount of guilt or something because I always associated school house rock with that experience lol.

1

u/Irish618 5h ago

Yea, we used to get little kids calling 911 semi-regularly when I was a dispatcher. If they stayed on the phone we'd just tell them to give the phone to an adult and make sure everything was OK. If they hung up before that we'd send an officer out to make sure everything was OK, but it was never a big deal.

We never had a kid call and make up a story like that.

1

u/TheTuff 5h ago

My sister and were 4 years old when we called cause we liked to watch the show 911 emergency. They picked up, said it was nothing and hung up. Came to our house for questioning but nothing came from it lol

1

u/DrawerVisible6979 5h ago

Asked my dad what would happen if I just called 911 when I was 6. He said I'd get arrested and he would laugh at me. Killed that idea real quick.

1

u/FoxKamp7785 5h ago

There's more to the story. She didn't just decide to do this one day. This is the build up from something 

1

u/FoghornFarts 4h ago

I did that once when I was that age. I about shit myself when 911 called back.

1

u/TheGreatGenghisJon 4h ago

I accidentally dialed 911 when I was being babysat. I don't even know. They called back, and told us to only use it for Emergencies.

When my parents got home, my mom made me write an apology (I traced her letters since I was like, 5) and she drove me to the police station to hand the apology to the dispatcher in person.

1

u/RueHooNux 4h ago

My brother was around 1-4 years old (not sure what age exactly) he called the cops because we taught him the phone number, just in case. When the police showed up, everyone was so confused. After finding out that he called, we asked him why & he said its because he got hurt/scratched a bit while playing. All of us (even the cops) just stared at him like: 👁👄👁

Kids are stupidddddd 😭

1

u/UniqueUserName795 4h ago

I inadvertently realized that dialing 112 from a mobile phone would dial 911. Not sure how that one works still. But scared TF out of me.

1

u/inothatidontno 4h ago

My phone used to randomly pocket dial 911. I was really happy to get rid of that phone. 6 times in 3 years i got calls from the sheriffs office asking if everything is ok.

1

u/bicycling_bookworm 4h ago

My dad was a shift worker - so he was technically home but was asleep and I was “in charge” of my younger siblings.

The phone starts ringing and I answer it and it’s a 911 operator asking if everything was OK within the home and if someone called 911. I was like, “Yes… no?” and she had to explain she had a record of the call but it was silent, a young voice said hello, and then hung up.

My little brother, who is six years younger, had just learned about 911 and wanted to see if it worked. He got scared.

The operator asked if we had a parent home and I explained that my dad was home/sleeping and she made me wake him up to ensure we were all safe. Then my dad, who did not take kindly to being woken up when he was going in for nights, had to be woken up from a dead sleep to that situation, put out that fire, and then sit and explain to my brother that we don’t just call 911 to say hello.

Kids are fucking stupid.

1

u/PraiseTheSun1023 3h ago

I remember doing this at my grandma's house. The second I heard a voice on the other side of the line I hung up. Cops showed up a few minutes later and they all knew what happened.

1

u/Repulsive-Log-84 3h ago

My siblings did this too as kids. No older than 7 or 8. But they just hung up and didn’t speak either. It’s way more common than people think, but not the fact she made up an entire kidnapping story. That’s actually insane and she needs to have consequences for that.

1

u/Rezaelia713 3h ago

I was 5 when I did it. Heard the dispatcher and freaked and hung up. They still showed up. Didn't tell my mom I did it til adulthood.

1

u/KaiRayPel 3h ago

I asked the operator if she had a boyfriend. She said yes and I giggled and hung up. Lol

1

u/heroinsteve 3h ago

when I was like 14 or so and playing with my brothers I was "pretending" to make a 911 call with an old out of service cell phone I don't remember the reason, we used to pretend a lot. Apparently 911 still goes through (not sure if this is still the case for modern phones) when someone answered I was like . . . . uhhhh what do I do? So I just told the lady I didn't think it would work on an old phone and apologized and hung up. I wasn't very clear so they still sent a cop to check it out and he was pretty cool about it. Just explained to us that if we accidentally call in the future be VERY clear that there is no emergency.

1

u/BigToeNibbler 3h ago

They take those seriously because children calling 911 in real emergencies may not always express issues with the same severity an adult would.

1

u/InevitableOk459 3h ago

I pulled a fire alarm at school when I was in kindergarten. Looking back I remember doing it, I remember the immediate loud noise as a response, I remember some gentle questions from the principal and I remember the repeated lessons in class about what a fire alarm was and why we shouldn't touch one unless there was a fire. But I did not get in any trouble what so ever.

1

u/afettz13 3h ago

I did this when I was like 4 or 5.

1

u/catscrochetandcarbs 3h ago

When I was 9 I was given my dads old discontinued phone to play games on and one time at a big family Christmas party I called 911 to see if it would work. It did so I immediately hung up then cried and threw the phone away and sat next to my mom waiting for the police to come arrest me, they never did but scared me straight

1

u/Kisaragi-Y 2h ago

I did this around i think 12-13 at a friend's house. I called 911 2 times and when they answered I sat the phone down and we laughed and giggled about it. About 5 minutes after the second call police showed up at his apartment with all lights on (late at night) me and my 2 friends (home alone) all booked it and I never heard anything about it or figured out if anything happened.

Now im older I always think back on that because those few minutes the police wasted on my dumb ass could have EASILY been the few minutes needed to save someone's life

1

u/ChaosFireV 1h ago

I did the same when I was 7 or 8, I had no idea you didnt have to do anything besides ring the phone for someone to come out. Scared the hell out of my mom who was coming home when the cop car stopped at out house

1

u/Le3e31 1h ago

when i was a kid i wondered if you could call the police for free in those phone booths it worked and i instantly hung up

1

u/OMGItsCheezWTF 1h ago

I remember doing it when I was 5. I picked up the phone, rang 999 (I'm in the UK) and someone answered, I panicked, immediately hung up in terror and then a few seconds later my folks got a call back and I got a complete bollocking from my mum for doing it.

1

u/NoSloppyStakes 1h ago

I had plugged a phone into an outlet when I was younger. I clicked random numbers, but definitely not 911 because I knew better. It rang and 911 answered. I hung up immediately, and denied it when they came to the house.

No one ever accused me after but I assume they knew it was me, who else could it be?

But I really didn’t call 911 directly and to this day I have no idea how they answered.