May 16, 2024 • 27 mins
Will and Mango are determined to figure out the origin of the emergency hotline. From the strange reason people used to call up funeral home directors after an accident, to the incredible train robbery that was stopped using a makeshift phone, to the heartbreaking ways that emergency operators learn to cope on the job, this week we're dialing up a whole host of 911 facts.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope
and iHeartRadio. Guess what?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Well, what's that Mango?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
So? I was giving this old piece in Popular Mechanics
this week, and this one line caught my eye. Did
you know that the vehicle from Ghostbusters, the original ectomobile,
is actually a hearse?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
You know? One thing I feel like I do know
is we've talked a lot about Ghostbusters on this show recently.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Have you noticed that I have?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Anyway? I guess I didn't really think about it, but
that does make sense. It's got such a weird shape
to the car.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Yeah, the director sort of souped it up. And apparently
the original design for the Ghostbuster's car was black with
purple streaks across the doors, and then they painted out
white and added some other modifications. But the thing that's
interesting to me is that the car isn't just a hearse.
The model's actually called a combination car. Because hearses from
the nineteen fifties weren't just hearses. They also worked as ambulances.
(00:59):
According to Popular Mechanics quote, hearses from funeral homes pulled
double duty, and the funeral home employees didn't have much
in the way of instruction beyond drive fast because the
EMPT as a concept was still a few years off.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
So why didn't people just call nine one one? And
we're talking about the nineteen fifties, right.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
I guess nine only one wasn't a national thing yet,
and ambulances and EMPT services hadn't really been formalized either.
That really starts in the mid to late sixties. So
the funeral homes already have these cars that can carry
people laying down. Funeral directors are just up at all hours,
and for them it's the way to make extra money. Plus,
from a more cynical perspective, if a patient doesn't make it,
(01:38):
you've gotten an easy referral. According to the Journal, this
paper from Ontario, Canada quote these ambulances not only took
the injury to the hospital, they transported patients to and
from nursing homes and even gave newborn babies and their
mothers a lift home. The equipment was often sparse, a stretcher,
a blanket, a first aid kit, and of course, in
(01:59):
earlier iteration, it points out they'd have a bottle of
whiskey to numb the pain. I mean, I can't imagine,
and I don't want to think about this sort of thing,
but like, imagine your granddad falling down some stairs or
something like that.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
The idea of calling a funeral home to help with
this problem just feels so morbid.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
You know, I know which God is wondering when did
emergency hotlines and nine on one change all of that?
So that's what we're talking about this episode. Let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome back to Part Time Genius.
I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joining with my
good friend Mango, and sitting somewhere behind that big booth
is our pal Dylan. He's got a bottle of Emergency
nine sauce and see SEMs to be pouring it on
everything he's eating back once he got back. If I
(03:05):
were doing that, I would be sweating. He's I don't
see one drout of sweat on the guy, but he's
got I mean, it looks like he's got a burrito.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
A hot dog.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
I think that's a cobb salad bart. Mango, I spot
a banana, but what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I'm so glad he also has a big jug of
milk back there to calm it all down, or else
we'd have to call nine one one. But speaking of
nine one one, which translates his emergency to us these days,
why don't you give us a rundown on how that
number came to be.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Well, as you said at the top of the show, here,
nine one one is a relatively modern thing nationally ethic.
That was the thing that surprised me most as we
started looking into it. But it actually wasn't until nineteen
sixty seven that the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and
Administration of Justice recommended that quote, a single number should
be established, and this would be nationwide. It would be
(03:57):
for reporting any emergency situation.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So what happened before that, I mean other than calling up,
like you know, your local funeral director with right, everyone
obviously has on speed dial.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Well, there used to be different numbers for different kinds
of emergencies, and we will get to that. But back
in nineteen sixty seven, the FCC met with the American
Telephone and Telegraph Company we know them today as AT
and T. Actually, that was another thing I learned. I
didn't know that that's what that had stood for. But
to find a means of establishing a universal emergency number
(04:30):
that could be implemented super quickly. So in nineteen sixty eight,
AT and T announced that it would establish the digits
nine to one one as the emergency code throughout the
United States. But weirdly, it wasn't until the Public Safety
Act of nineteen ninety nine MANGO nineteen ninety nine. We
were in college at the time that nine to one
one was officially established as the nation's emergency calling number.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
That is insane that it took that long.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, it was actually Bill Clinton who signed the law
ensuring that the FCC controlled nine one one and that
it had a budget to oversee the number, which is
when it became officially the law of the land.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
But people were calling nine one one for decades before that, right.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, So the first nine one one call actually took
place in my home state in Haleyville, Alabama. And this
was in nineteen sixty eight, and it's still celebrated today.
And do I mean celebrating, you know, have all sorts
of weird things. You know, We've got that the big
statue to the Bowl weavil and enterprise out and we
love celebrating our super weird things there. But there's a
(05:31):
sign there that says Haileyville where nine one one began,
which is such a weird thing. But there are also
banners hanging from street lights that have the town seal
on it that you know, shows this red phone receiver
and the words home of nine one one. Again, it
just feels like a really weird message to send. But also,
there's literally a nine one one festival in Haleyville every June,
(05:54):
So I don't know if you've booked your tickets yet.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I haven't.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
I mean, I'm not sure that the Home of nine
one one is really that big a draw for me,
and it feels weird to want to go to somewhere
where they have so many emergencies. But I am curious
about this festival. How do you celebrate a phone number?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Well, if you think about it, there are some things
to celebrate, Like really, it's a festival to celebrate first responders,
so that's pretty great. They obviously work super hard save
a lot of lives. There's a parade, some first responder awards. Also,
you know, given where it is, there's a tractor show,
so that's the fun part too. And then obviously there's
got to be a cornhole tournament to sort of round
things out.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
You know, that sounds perfect, but the history.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Is pretty interesting. So back in the nineteen sixties, there
were all these regional telephone companies. So when AT and
T and the FCC decided that three numbers to use
would be nine to one pint one, the president of
the Alabama Telephone Company, his name was Bob Gallagher, read
about the decision and was upset that independent carriers were
left out of the conversation. So he basically rushed to
(06:56):
establish a nine to one to one system as fast
as possible. He wanted to beat AT and T to
the punch, and it took less than a week to
set up, and on February sixteenth, nineteen sixty eight, the
red emergency phone in Haleyville rang for the first time.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
I love that there's actually like a red phone there.
It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
It's literally on the town seal and all those banners,
and it's also it's weird to me, like, before looking
into all of this, I actually did not know that
this all started in my home state.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That's wonderful. Well, what number would you call if you
had an emergency? Like one year before that, in nineteen
sixty six.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Well up until that point, people would just dial zero
and then they would tell the operators. Sometimes we forget
about that, right, the existence of operators, And you can
imagine this was a pretty stressful situation. So the telephone
company operators weren't necessarily trained on these emergency services. But
phone lines had been the go to for reporting emergencies
since the early nineteen hundred, So way back, the founders
(07:57):
of the communications giant Ericson actually developed a portable phone
handset and this crank that could be hooked to these
like bare phone wires, and you'd actually place these two
metal hooks inside it over these telephone wires to form
the connection and then crank the handbox to create a
signal that would hopefully be answered by someone on the line.
This seems like a lot to figure out in these
(08:18):
emergency situations.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
It's insane. So like if there was like a hot
air balloon crash, or a guy with a handlebar mustache
riding too fast in his unicycle, this is the contraction
you'd have to use.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
That's exactly, and those were two of the most common
injuries and emergencies. But it turns out people use the
crank and hook thing for some pretty important things, Like
way back in nineteen oh seven, somebody used one to
report a train robbery and it actually contributed to the
arrest of the outlaws.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
That's incredible.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And here's actually, it's just so fun to read about
some of these old ones. Here's one more old time nuggeting.
Part of the reason we actually have some early emergency
regulations is because of the Titanic. So basically, when people
on the ship realized that were in trouble, the Titanic
radio operator signaled for help. And it turns out there
was one ship close by that was capable of offering aid,
(09:08):
but the operator was off duty and the signal was
never actually received, which is obviously a tragic situation. So
in response, Congress passed the Radio Act of nineteen twelve,
requiring all seagoing vessels to have a licensed radio operator
on duty at all times. And this was to continuously
monitor these distress frequencies. And that's what kickstarted the relationship
(09:32):
between emergency communications and governance.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
It's interesting that that's one of the legacies of the Titanic.
You know, I never would have guessed that, but I
guess it kind of makes sense that it takes a
big tragedy to spur some big change like that. Like
in the UK, instead of nine one one, they have
nine to ninety nine. And it's actually the world's oldest
emergency phone service. It dates back to nineteen thirty five.
But again it comes about because of a tragedy. There
(09:58):
was a deadly fire in London in on Wimpole Street
and five women ended up dying. The neighbors did try
to help. They all dialed zero for the switchboard, but
it was jammed with so many calls that they couldn't
alert anyone of the fire.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
And so I'm curious, So how did they settle on
those numbers nine to nine to nine.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
The General Post Office, which ran the telephone network, proposed
a three digit number that could trigger a special signal
and a flashing light at the exchange and then the
operators could divert their attention and you know, get these
priority calls. But they just had to pick three numbers.
People thought an end number was a good choice, so
you know, you could find it easily if you're reaching
(10:37):
for your phone in the dark or in thick smoke.
So like one one one was rejected because it could
be triggered by faulty equipment or rubbing telephone lines together.
I guess two two two was already taken apparently connected
to the abbey, and zero zero zero didn't make any
sense because the first zero would already take you straight
to the operator. So they went with nine nine to nine,
(10:57):
and on June thirtieth, nineteen thirty seven, the Capitol's new
emergency telephone line was unveiled, and a week later, on
July seventh, nineteen thirty seven, the press reported at the
first arrest after a nine nine nine call, there was
a guy, John Stanley Beard. He was woken up in
the early hours of the morning by a noise underneath
his bedroom window, and when he looked outside, he saw
(11:18):
a single foot, a man's foot out there, and so
his wife down nine nine nine. In less than five minutes,
this burglar was arrested five minutes.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
That's actually pretty amazing given everything. But so nine nine
nine pretty much worked immediately.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Uh, well, it didn't work perfectly. Of the about one thousand,
three hundred calls made that first week, ninety one were
prank calls.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Oh gosh, I mean, it feels so stupid but also
so human that as soon as the country gets this
emergency number, people would of course start making crank calls.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yeah, especially after this very sober notice in the evening
News advised the public how to use nine nine to nine.
It reads, quote only dial nine ninety nine if the
matter is urgent. If, for instance, the man in the
flat next to yours is murdering his wife, or you
have seen a heavily masked cat burglar peering around the
stackpipe of the local bank building. If you've merely lost
(12:10):
a little towser or Lori has come to rest in
your front garden, just call up the local police end quotes, right.
I love the idea that someone putting their truck a
little too close to you, know, your azaleas is something
you should call nine one one about.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I'm pretty sure I told you this before. But my grandmother,
of course, Mamma, she would if we'd end up in
a traffic jam. Every once in a while, she would
want to pick up the phone and call nine one one,
and we'd have to stop her from doing that, just
to find out why there was a traffic jam. But
I mean, I guess they were just worried that the
emergency number would turn into this sort of like a
complaint line for cranky citizens.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Yeah, I mean, I guess that's fair. The other thing
about the line of that time is that the early
technology wasn't perfect, so when a call came in, operators
were alerted by this like big flashing red light and
a claxon, which is one of those like a wuga sirens.
So if you can imagine multiple calls coming in at once,
it's kind of nuts. A nineteen fifty one article in
(13:06):
the Post Office Telecommunications Journal described nine nine nine's early days. Quote,
when the raucous buzzer sounded in the quiet discipline switch rooms,
a few of the girls found the situation too much
for them and had to be carried out.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
That sounds pretty awful, actually, but actually there are a
whole bunch of awugas and flashing lights going on over there.
I don't know if our listeners can hear that, which
I think Dylan is using to tell us it is
time to throw to commercials. So stay right there. We'll
be back with more Part Time Genius after the break.
(13:51):
Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where we're talking nine
to one to one and the various emergency lines around
the world. All right, megol let's jump over to Europe
and look at their emergency number, one one one two.
How did that come into existence?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
So the idea for one one two started in the
early nineteen nineties. In July nineteen ninety one, the EU
decided that all member states would introduce a common emergency number,
but it wasn't until two thousand and two that one
one two became mandatory for all EU member states, And
the number does work in some other places, like Australia
(14:23):
uses a triple zero for their emergency number, although you
can also use one one two if you're calling from
a mobile phone.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Actually, that was one of the things I thought was
most interesting in the research of all of this, Like
if you're abroad and you dial your home country's emergency number,
often it'll just forward to whatever country you're in. Like,
if you dial one one two here in the States,
it fords to nine one one.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah. I actually remember when I was on study abroad,
this kid on my trip was feeling sick from something
he'd eaten, and he was like super super dramatic and
he was like crawling on the floor to the phone
and trying to dial nine one one. But you know
it's a landline and then it doesn't go anywhere, So,
you know, it did make me think, like, I don't
know what you're supposed to do in emergency situations in
(15:08):
other countries, but I guess on cell phones have kind
of solved for that. Yeah, which is a great thing.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
It is definitely a good thing. And today we have
what's called Enhance nine one one, which is what ninety
three percent of counties with nine to one one coverage have,
So basically nine one one systems have been upgraded to
accommodate for wireless calls and they share the caller's location
by iding the closest cell tower to the caller. I'm
(15:32):
sure you've heard about this as well.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Yeah, I feel like you hear a lot about that
on like NCIS type shows, or like in Cereal where
they're trying to triangulate a caller's location from cell phone towers.
But that feels like technology that's been around for a while.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
That's true, but nine one one is always evolving. Like
right now, dispatch operators are transitioning to what's called Next
Generation nine one one or NG nine one one, which
will allow us to send things like texts and pictures
to our nine one providers.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Which is great, but I imagine with all the prank pictures
that might come to it's probably another opportunity for emergency
dispatches to remind nine one one users to use it appropriately.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Well, none of our listeners would ever do that. But
here's another interesting thing that I learned in my research,
and again it's an evolution because of a tragedy. But
you know, if you're in an office, you often have
to dial nine to reach an outside line, right yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
And sometimes in hotels too, right.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, exactly, And that's not the case if you're dialing
nine one one. So today, if you just dial nine
one one, it'll connect you. And that's because of this case.
In twenty thirteen, there was a woman named Carrie Hunt.
She was attacked and killed by her estranged husband in Marshall, Texas.
And this happened in a hotel room, and so Carrie's
nine year old daughter was in the room and trying
(16:49):
to call nine one one on the hotel phone. I mean,
just such a tragic situation. But she dialed nine one
one four times during the attack, but tragically none of
those calls went through.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
That is so awful.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah. So ever since then, Carrie's father, a man named
Hank Hunt, has worked tirelessly with the FCC and Congress
to change the law so that nine is no longer
needed for nine one one calls from these multi line
systems like hotel phones, business phones, things like that. And
all these efforts paid off in twenty eighteen when Carrie's
law actually became this officially adopted law across the states.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
That you know that that's really sad, but also seems
so obvious, right, Like, I guess we just don't think
of these things until we have to.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yeah, And because arguably the multi line phone system is
a great technological advancement, but it didn't integrate naturally with
the nine one one system. And it's kind of the
same things with like smartphones and watches, but but really
more in the opposite direction. Like they've almost made calling
nine one one too easy.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah. I think it's funny that every time I shut
my phone off, it offers me the option to call
emergency services, which you know is obviously a good thing,
but sometimes it does feel like my phone wants me
to call nine one one.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah, I mean, like, like you said, built in nine
one one features and smartphones are a net positive, but
they've definitely led to an increase in the accidental nine
one one calls. For instance, in India, for some reason,
if you or your kid or your pocket presses the
side button three times, your phone will dial one one two.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
That's crazy. I go to India like every other year,
and I had no idea about this.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Glad that you haven't accidentally called nine or one one two,
I guess in that case. You know, in some smart
watches now include fall detection, so if your watch thinks
you fall in and can't get up, it will call
nine one one, which is a great safety feature.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, it's so smart. It's like such a boon for
people like us who might be worried about you know,
your parents or your in laws.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah, but you can also imagine how it might cause
some problems too, Like at one Idaho ski resort this
past winter, this place called Schweitz Or Mountain, the sheriff's
office saw this dramatic increase in unwanted nine to one
one calls and people that were skiing and snowboarding and
they were just wiping out, which was triggering all this
fall detection on smart watches and it just kept calling
(19:03):
nine one one.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
That's incredible. They just have to stay on the bunny hill.
If you're wearing a smart.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Watch, that's right. But sometimes it doesn't even take a
fall to trigger this automatic emergency call. So there's this
Reddit post from a person in Europe who Samsung Galaxy
dialed one one two when they took it off, and
this is what it said. Quote, I took my watch
off and threw it on my bed because I went
to take a shower. Well, my watch interpreted that is falling.
(19:29):
One one two called me like four times, and when
I heard the fourth call, I ran out to answer
the phone.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
That's crazy, and I feel like running out all soapy
with shampoo and your eyes might actually cause a spill
that makes you need to call nine one one. But
to your point, obviously, unintentional calls aren't a great thing,
especially since there's a nationwide shortage of nine to one
one dispatches right now.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Oh that's interesting. Why do you think there's a shortage.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
So a lot of reasons, you know, burnout from the pandemic,
long shifts, overnight shifts, low pay, high stress, all of
that is contributing. But the volume of calls is also insane.
I mean, this number is all over the place online,
but supposedly America's nine to one one system receives an
average of two hundred and forty million calls annually, or
(20:13):
an average of over twelve hundred calls per minute.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Oh wow, that is insane.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Yeah, and I hadn't even processed how hard the job is. Like,
I actually read this memoir. It's called Answering nine to
one one by Carolyn Bourou. I think her name's pronounced,
But she's talking about how people always want to hear
the types of calls she answers at parties, and it
just makes her pause every time because like, actually, the
most interesting calls, she says, are the saddest ones. So
(20:38):
this is what she writes. They are the stories where
mothers and fathers fail their children. They are the stories
where friends and lovers do awful things to each other
because of drugs or alcohol or worse, for no real
reason at all. Where they are the fascinating ways that
some people lose their grip on reality. Interesting, yeah, but
not amusing. And she talks about trying to hold it
(20:58):
together on a call where this girl has called because
her mom has tried to commit suicide, and how she
has to ask like where the gun is and what
type of gun she used, and if the mom is
still alive, And you know, those calls just have to
be devastating, and you know, as an operator you kind
of have to hold it together until after the shift
when when she says she would like, you know, release
(21:19):
and cry.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
It's one of those things I can't imagine. It's just
it's heartbreaking.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yeah, And the lower staffing levels across the country also
increase the burden on the remaining dispatchers, which makes them
more susceptible to the burnout. So it's really this vicious cycle.
And also since twenty twenty, in the wake of George Floyd,
there's been a perception of nine one one as an
enabler of the police. So these days there's a growing
interest in alternative dispatch or alternative response programs that send
(21:48):
public health and crisis intervention workers instead of cops to
intervene with certain calls. And it's interesting when you look
at the numbers because of the approximately two hundred and
forty million calls made to nine one one every year,
only a small fraction are for serious or violent crimes.
The majority are calls like disorderly conduct and noise complaints,
(22:08):
suspicious people are cars, and mental health issues and also
things like substance use and homelessness, and so you really
don't always need police as first responders.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, I mean, there is this tendency to think of
police as kind of like this all purpose, you know
force there, but they actually are only trained in very
specific ways, and like you wouldn't call the cops to
put out a fire, so it feels weird that we
would call them to deal with a drug overdose or
something else that they're really not equipped for, not trained for.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Yeah, And alternative dispatch programs deploy public health professionals and
crisis workers to situations involving mental health, substance abuse, and homelessness,
so in other words, people who are specifically trained to
resolve those emergencies. The Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab
the GPL, is working with fifteen jurisdictions across the country
(22:57):
to develop and pilot some of these alternative responsestem right now, Yeah, all.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
This it does sort of highlight how knee jerk calling
nine to one one can be, like whatever the emergency
might be, actually there's this funny instance from September of
twenty twenty three when the US Marines actually called nine
to one one to report having lost you know what
they lost? They lost an F thirty five fighter jet.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
It's not like you lost a cat or something.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
No, it's crazy, and it's it's just wild to read
about this story. But eventually they found the pilot, but
somehow not the jet. So if you see an F
thirty five just roaming around your neighborhood, maybe slip a
note to the Pentagon, just just let them know.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Well, should we do a quick round up of funny
nine one one calls from dispatchers on Reddit, because that
would be a better way to do our fact off.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I think we all know this is what this episode
has been building too, So let's do it all right,
Why don't I start with a classic straight from red quote.
Lady called in because she thought Willie Nelson was having
a cardiac arresque in her trailer and she needed an ambulance.
(24:08):
I started giving her CPR instructions, and come to find
out when paramedics got there, she was doing compressions on
the couch cushions. Apparently she was just really.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
High tale as old as time. So I like this
one quote. A concern citizen called in an animal stuck
in a tree, and that animal was a bird.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Oh, just stuck. I had another fun animal call quote.
Middle of the night shift, get a report of a
guy trying to ride on a moose. Officer attends there is,
indeed a male trying to ride said moose. Male is
wearing high visibility vest and helmet, which his girlfriend made
him put on for safety reasons. Of course, I like that.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
That's actually a moose there in that scenario. Yeah, so
this is another animal one quote. I talked to a
pizza delivery guy who couldn't reach his destination because a
defiant chicken was standing in the middle of the road.
I stayed with him on the phone as he pleaded
with it to finally move along. Truly a chicken crossing
the road moment.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Yeah, I see why they would call nine one. Why
that does sound sound terrifying? So yeah, all right, So
I'm gonna end on this one because I really love it.
It is so brazen. Here we go. Quote. Got a
call from one of the managers at a bowling alley
complaining that their ice machine was broken and it's a
really busy night, and if someone doesn't come to fix it,
there will be no cold drinks. I mean, to be fair,
(25:31):
no cold drinks at a bowling alley is an emergency.
So you know this one seems maybe legit thinking more
about it, anyway, what are you gonna end on, Mango?
Speaker 1 (25:39):
I mean, if you think about there will be blood
that bowling alley is seeing. You know, turns dangerous when
there's nothing to drink.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Say it's legit now.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I love the nine one one calls from kids who
are calling to complain that their siblings being mean to
them or won't share their legos. But I think my
favorite one is about a kid and a mom. Uh
so this is how it goes.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
A frazzled mother called because her six year old had
gotten onto the roof and she couldn't get him down.
She kept screaming about how we need to hurry, not
because she was worried he would get hurt, but because
he had done this before and the last time he
peed in the air vents.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
All right, Well, nothing like a little pee in the
air vent to seal a fact off. It's a cheap
way to win it, Mango, But I'm gonna have to
give you this week's trophy. So that's it for this
week's Part Time Genius. If you like the show, want
us to cover any topics, or just want to say
hey to Dylan or tell him to take it easy
on the hot sauce, we always love hearing from you.
Just look for the contacts in the show notes.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
But as always, thanks so much for listening.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Part Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio.
This show is hosted by Will Pearson and me Mongas
Chatikler and research by our goodpal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's
episode was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan
with support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced
for iHeart by Katrina Norbel and Ali Perry, with social
(27:14):
media support from Sasha Gay, Trustee Dara Potts and Viney Shorey.
For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope
and iHeartRadio. Guess what?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Well, what's that Mango?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
So? I was giving this old piece in Popular Mechanics
this week, and this one line caught my eye. Did
you know that the vehicle from Ghostbusters, the original ectomobile,
is actually a hearse?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
You know? One thing I feel like I do know
is we've talked a lot about Ghostbusters on this show recently.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Have you noticed that I have?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Anyway? I guess I didn't really think about it, but
that does make sense. It's got such a weird shape
to the car.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Yeah, the director sort of souped it up. And apparently
the original design for the Ghostbuster's car was black with
purple streaks across the doors, and then they painted out
white and added some other modifications. But the thing that's
interesting to me is that the car isn't just a hearse.
The model's actually called a combination car. Because hearses from
the nineteen fifties weren't just hearses. They also worked as ambulances.
(00:59):
According to Popular Mechanics quote, hearses from funeral homes pulled
double duty, and the funeral home employees didn't have much
in the way of instruction beyond drive fast because the
EMPT as a concept was still a few years off.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
So why didn't people just call nine one one? And
we're talking about the nineteen fifties, right.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
I guess nine only one wasn't a national thing yet,
and ambulances and EMPT services hadn't really been formalized either.
That really starts in the mid to late sixties. So
the funeral homes already have these cars that can carry
people laying down. Funeral directors are just up at all hours,
and for them it's the way to make extra money. Plus,
from a more cynical perspective, if a patient doesn't make it,
(01:38):
you've gotten an easy referral. According to the Journal, this
paper from Ontario, Canada quote these ambulances not only took
the injury to the hospital, they transported patients to and
from nursing homes and even gave newborn babies and their
mothers a lift home. The equipment was often sparse, a stretcher,
a blanket, a first aid kit, and of course, in
(01:59):
earlier iteration, it points out they'd have a bottle of
whiskey to numb the pain. I mean, I can't imagine,
and I don't want to think about this sort of thing,
but like, imagine your granddad falling down some stairs or
something like that.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
The idea of calling a funeral home to help with
this problem just feels so morbid.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
You know, I know which God is wondering when did
emergency hotlines and nine on one change all of that?
So that's what we're talking about this episode. Let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome back to Part Time Genius.
I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joining with my
good friend Mango, and sitting somewhere behind that big booth
is our pal Dylan. He's got a bottle of Emergency
nine sauce and see SEMs to be pouring it on
everything he's eating back once he got back. If I
(03:05):
were doing that, I would be sweating. He's I don't
see one drout of sweat on the guy, but he's
got I mean, it looks like he's got a burrito.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
A hot dog.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
I think that's a cobb salad bart. Mango, I spot
a banana, but what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I'm so glad he also has a big jug of
milk back there to calm it all down, or else
we'd have to call nine one one. But speaking of
nine one one, which translates his emergency to us these days,
why don't you give us a rundown on how that
number came to be.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Well, as you said at the top of the show, here,
nine one one is a relatively modern thing nationally ethic.
That was the thing that surprised me most as we
started looking into it. But it actually wasn't until nineteen
sixty seven that the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and
Administration of Justice recommended that quote, a single number should
be established, and this would be nationwide. It would be
(03:57):
for reporting any emergency situation.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So what happened before that, I mean other than calling up,
like you know, your local funeral director with right, everyone
obviously has on speed dial.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Well, there used to be different numbers for different kinds
of emergencies, and we will get to that. But back
in nineteen sixty seven, the FCC met with the American
Telephone and Telegraph Company we know them today as AT
and T. Actually, that was another thing I learned. I
didn't know that that's what that had stood for. But
to find a means of establishing a universal emergency number
(04:30):
that could be implemented super quickly. So in nineteen sixty eight,
AT and T announced that it would establish the digits
nine to one one as the emergency code throughout the
United States. But weirdly, it wasn't until the Public Safety
Act of nineteen ninety nine MANGO nineteen ninety nine. We
were in college at the time that nine to one
one was officially established as the nation's emergency calling number.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
That is insane that it took that long.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, it was actually Bill Clinton who signed the law
ensuring that the FCC controlled nine one one and that
it had a budget to oversee the number, which is
when it became officially the law of the land.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
But people were calling nine one one for decades before that, right.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, So the first nine one one call actually took
place in my home state in Haleyville, Alabama. And this
was in nineteen sixty eight, and it's still celebrated today.
And do I mean celebrating, you know, have all sorts
of weird things. You know, We've got that the big
statue to the Bowl weavil and enterprise out and we
love celebrating our super weird things there. But there's a
(05:31):
sign there that says Haileyville where nine one one began,
which is such a weird thing. But there are also
banners hanging from street lights that have the town seal
on it that you know, shows this red phone receiver
and the words home of nine one one. Again, it
just feels like a really weird message to send. But also,
there's literally a nine one one festival in Haleyville every June,
(05:54):
So I don't know if you've booked your tickets yet.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I haven't.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
I mean, I'm not sure that the Home of nine
one one is really that big a draw for me,
and it feels weird to want to go to somewhere
where they have so many emergencies. But I am curious
about this festival. How do you celebrate a phone number?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Well, if you think about it, there are some things
to celebrate, Like really, it's a festival to celebrate first responders,
so that's pretty great. They obviously work super hard save
a lot of lives. There's a parade, some first responder awards. Also,
you know, given where it is, there's a tractor show,
so that's the fun part too. And then obviously there's
got to be a cornhole tournament to sort of round
things out.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
You know, that sounds perfect, but the history.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Is pretty interesting. So back in the nineteen sixties, there
were all these regional telephone companies. So when AT and
T and the FCC decided that three numbers to use
would be nine to one pint one, the president of
the Alabama Telephone Company, his name was Bob Gallagher, read
about the decision and was upset that independent carriers were
left out of the conversation. So he basically rushed to
(06:56):
establish a nine to one to one system as fast
as possible. He wanted to beat AT and T to
the punch, and it took less than a week to
set up, and on February sixteenth, nineteen sixty eight, the
red emergency phone in Haleyville rang for the first time.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
I love that there's actually like a red phone there.
It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
It's literally on the town seal and all those banners,
and it's also it's weird to me, like, before looking
into all of this, I actually did not know that
this all started in my home state.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That's wonderful. Well, what number would you call if you
had an emergency? Like one year before that, in nineteen
sixty six.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Well up until that point, people would just dial zero
and then they would tell the operators. Sometimes we forget
about that, right, the existence of operators, And you can
imagine this was a pretty stressful situation. So the telephone
company operators weren't necessarily trained on these emergency services. But
phone lines had been the go to for reporting emergencies
since the early nineteen hundred, So way back, the founders
(07:57):
of the communications giant Ericson actually developed a portable phone
handset and this crank that could be hooked to these
like bare phone wires, and you'd actually place these two
metal hooks inside it over these telephone wires to form
the connection and then crank the handbox to create a
signal that would hopefully be answered by someone on the line.
This seems like a lot to figure out in these
(08:18):
emergency situations.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
It's insane. So like if there was like a hot
air balloon crash, or a guy with a handlebar mustache
riding too fast in his unicycle, this is the contraction
you'd have to use.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
That's exactly, and those were two of the most common
injuries and emergencies. But it turns out people use the
crank and hook thing for some pretty important things, Like
way back in nineteen oh seven, somebody used one to
report a train robbery and it actually contributed to the
arrest of the outlaws.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
That's incredible.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And here's actually, it's just so fun to read about
some of these old ones. Here's one more old time nuggeting.
Part of the reason we actually have some early emergency
regulations is because of the Titanic. So basically, when people
on the ship realized that were in trouble, the Titanic
radio operator signaled for help. And it turns out there
was one ship close by that was capable of offering aid,
(09:08):
but the operator was off duty and the signal was
never actually received, which is obviously a tragic situation. So
in response, Congress passed the Radio Act of nineteen twelve,
requiring all seagoing vessels to have a licensed radio operator
on duty at all times. And this was to continuously
monitor these distress frequencies. And that's what kickstarted the relationship
(09:32):
between emergency communications and governance.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
It's interesting that that's one of the legacies of the Titanic.
You know, I never would have guessed that, but I
guess it kind of makes sense that it takes a
big tragedy to spur some big change like that. Like
in the UK, instead of nine one one, they have
nine to ninety nine. And it's actually the world's oldest
emergency phone service. It dates back to nineteen thirty five.
But again it comes about because of a tragedy. There
(09:58):
was a deadly fire in London in on Wimpole Street
and five women ended up dying. The neighbors did try
to help. They all dialed zero for the switchboard, but
it was jammed with so many calls that they couldn't
alert anyone of the fire.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
And so I'm curious, So how did they settle on
those numbers nine to nine to nine.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
The General Post Office, which ran the telephone network, proposed
a three digit number that could trigger a special signal
and a flashing light at the exchange and then the
operators could divert their attention and you know, get these
priority calls. But they just had to pick three numbers.
People thought an end number was a good choice, so
you know, you could find it easily if you're reaching
(10:37):
for your phone in the dark or in thick smoke.
So like one one one was rejected because it could
be triggered by faulty equipment or rubbing telephone lines together.
I guess two two two was already taken apparently connected
to the abbey, and zero zero zero didn't make any
sense because the first zero would already take you straight
to the operator. So they went with nine nine to nine,
(10:57):
and on June thirtieth, nineteen thirty seven, the Capitol's new
emergency telephone line was unveiled, and a week later, on
July seventh, nineteen thirty seven, the press reported at the
first arrest after a nine nine nine call, there was
a guy, John Stanley Beard. He was woken up in
the early hours of the morning by a noise underneath
his bedroom window, and when he looked outside, he saw
(11:18):
a single foot, a man's foot out there, and so
his wife down nine nine nine. In less than five minutes,
this burglar was arrested five minutes.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
That's actually pretty amazing given everything. But so nine nine
nine pretty much worked immediately.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Uh, well, it didn't work perfectly. Of the about one thousand,
three hundred calls made that first week, ninety one were
prank calls.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Oh gosh, I mean, it feels so stupid but also
so human that as soon as the country gets this
emergency number, people would of course start making crank calls.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yeah, especially after this very sober notice in the evening
News advised the public how to use nine nine to nine.
It reads, quote only dial nine ninety nine if the
matter is urgent. If, for instance, the man in the
flat next to yours is murdering his wife, or you
have seen a heavily masked cat burglar peering around the
stackpipe of the local bank building. If you've merely lost
(12:10):
a little towser or Lori has come to rest in
your front garden, just call up the local police end quotes, right.
I love the idea that someone putting their truck a
little too close to you, know, your azaleas is something
you should call nine one one about.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I'm pretty sure I told you this before. But my grandmother,
of course, Mamma, she would if we'd end up in
a traffic jam. Every once in a while, she would
want to pick up the phone and call nine one one,
and we'd have to stop her from doing that, just
to find out why there was a traffic jam. But
I mean, I guess they were just worried that the
emergency number would turn into this sort of like a
complaint line for cranky citizens.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Yeah, I mean, I guess that's fair. The other thing
about the line of that time is that the early
technology wasn't perfect, so when a call came in, operators
were alerted by this like big flashing red light and
a claxon, which is one of those like a wuga sirens.
So if you can imagine multiple calls coming in at once,
it's kind of nuts. A nineteen fifty one article in
(13:06):
the Post Office Telecommunications Journal described nine nine nine's early days. Quote,
when the raucous buzzer sounded in the quiet discipline switch rooms,
a few of the girls found the situation too much
for them and had to be carried out.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
That sounds pretty awful, actually, but actually there are a
whole bunch of awugas and flashing lights going on over there.
I don't know if our listeners can hear that, which
I think Dylan is using to tell us it is
time to throw to commercials. So stay right there. We'll
be back with more Part Time Genius after the break.
(13:51):
Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where we're talking nine
to one to one and the various emergency lines around
the world. All right, megol let's jump over to Europe
and look at their emergency number, one one one two.
How did that come into existence?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
So the idea for one one two started in the
early nineteen nineties. In July nineteen ninety one, the EU
decided that all member states would introduce a common emergency number,
but it wasn't until two thousand and two that one
one two became mandatory for all EU member states, And
the number does work in some other places, like Australia
(14:23):
uses a triple zero for their emergency number, although you
can also use one one two if you're calling from
a mobile phone.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Actually, that was one of the things I thought was
most interesting in the research of all of this, Like
if you're abroad and you dial your home country's emergency number,
often it'll just forward to whatever country you're in. Like,
if you dial one one two here in the States,
it fords to nine one one.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah. I actually remember when I was on study abroad,
this kid on my trip was feeling sick from something
he'd eaten, and he was like super super dramatic and
he was like crawling on the floor to the phone
and trying to dial nine one one. But you know
it's a landline and then it doesn't go anywhere, So,
you know, it did make me think, like, I don't
know what you're supposed to do in emergency situations in
(15:08):
other countries, but I guess on cell phones have kind
of solved for that. Yeah, which is a great thing.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
It is definitely a good thing. And today we have
what's called Enhance nine one one, which is what ninety
three percent of counties with nine to one one coverage have,
So basically nine one one systems have been upgraded to
accommodate for wireless calls and they share the caller's location
by iding the closest cell tower to the caller. I'm
(15:32):
sure you've heard about this as well.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Yeah, I feel like you hear a lot about that
on like NCIS type shows, or like in Cereal where
they're trying to triangulate a caller's location from cell phone towers.
But that feels like technology that's been around for a while.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
That's true, but nine one one is always evolving. Like
right now, dispatch operators are transitioning to what's called Next
Generation nine one one or NG nine one one, which
will allow us to send things like texts and pictures
to our nine one providers.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Which is great, but I imagine with all the prank pictures
that might come to it's probably another opportunity for emergency
dispatches to remind nine one one users to use it appropriately.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Well, none of our listeners would ever do that. But
here's another interesting thing that I learned in my research,
and again it's an evolution because of a tragedy. But
you know, if you're in an office, you often have
to dial nine to reach an outside line, right yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
And sometimes in hotels too, right.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, exactly, And that's not the case if you're dialing
nine one one. So today, if you just dial nine
one one, it'll connect you. And that's because of this case.
In twenty thirteen, there was a woman named Carrie Hunt.
She was attacked and killed by her estranged husband in Marshall, Texas.
And this happened in a hotel room, and so Carrie's
nine year old daughter was in the room and trying
(16:49):
to call nine one one on the hotel phone. I mean,
just such a tragic situation. But she dialed nine one
one four times during the attack, but tragically none of
those calls went through.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
That is so awful.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah. So ever since then, Carrie's father, a man named
Hank Hunt, has worked tirelessly with the FCC and Congress
to change the law so that nine is no longer
needed for nine one one calls from these multi line
systems like hotel phones, business phones, things like that. And
all these efforts paid off in twenty eighteen when Carrie's
law actually became this officially adopted law across the states.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
That you know that that's really sad, but also seems
so obvious, right, Like, I guess we just don't think
of these things until we have to.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yeah, And because arguably the multi line phone system is
a great technological advancement, but it didn't integrate naturally with
the nine one one system. And it's kind of the
same things with like smartphones and watches, but but really
more in the opposite direction. Like they've almost made calling
nine one one too easy.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah. I think it's funny that every time I shut
my phone off, it offers me the option to call
emergency services, which you know is obviously a good thing,
but sometimes it does feel like my phone wants me
to call nine one one.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah, I mean, like, like you said, built in nine
one one features and smartphones are a net positive, but
they've definitely led to an increase in the accidental nine
one one calls. For instance, in India, for some reason,
if you or your kid or your pocket presses the
side button three times, your phone will dial one one two.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
That's crazy. I go to India like every other year,
and I had no idea about this.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Glad that you haven't accidentally called nine or one one two,
I guess in that case. You know, in some smart
watches now include fall detection, so if your watch thinks
you fall in and can't get up, it will call
nine one one, which is a great safety feature.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, it's so smart. It's like such a boon for
people like us who might be worried about you know,
your parents or your in laws.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yeah, but you can also imagine how it might cause
some problems too, Like at one Idaho ski resort this
past winter, this place called Schweitz Or Mountain, the sheriff's
office saw this dramatic increase in unwanted nine to one
one calls and people that were skiing and snowboarding and
they were just wiping out, which was triggering all this
fall detection on smart watches and it just kept calling
(19:03):
nine one one.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
That's incredible. They just have to stay on the bunny hill.
If you're wearing a smart.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Watch, that's right. But sometimes it doesn't even take a
fall to trigger this automatic emergency call. So there's this
Reddit post from a person in Europe who Samsung Galaxy
dialed one one two when they took it off, and
this is what it said. Quote, I took my watch
off and threw it on my bed because I went
to take a shower. Well, my watch interpreted that is falling.
(19:29):
One one two called me like four times, and when
I heard the fourth call, I ran out to answer
the phone.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
That's crazy, and I feel like running out all soapy
with shampoo and your eyes might actually cause a spill
that makes you need to call nine one one. But
to your point, obviously, unintentional calls aren't a great thing,
especially since there's a nationwide shortage of nine to one
one dispatches right now.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Oh that's interesting. Why do you think there's a shortage.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
So a lot of reasons, you know, burnout from the pandemic,
long shifts, overnight shifts, low pay, high stress, all of
that is contributing. But the volume of calls is also insane.
I mean, this number is all over the place online,
but supposedly America's nine to one one system receives an
average of two hundred and forty million calls annually, or
(20:13):
an average of over twelve hundred calls per minute.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Oh wow, that is insane.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Yeah, and I hadn't even processed how hard the job is. Like,
I actually read this memoir. It's called Answering nine to
one one by Carolyn Bourou. I think her name's pronounced,
But she's talking about how people always want to hear
the types of calls she answers at parties, and it
just makes her pause every time because like, actually, the
most interesting calls, she says, are the saddest ones. So
(20:38):
this is what she writes. They are the stories where
mothers and fathers fail their children. They are the stories
where friends and lovers do awful things to each other
because of drugs or alcohol or worse, for no real
reason at all. Where they are the fascinating ways that
some people lose their grip on reality. Interesting, yeah, but
not amusing. And she talks about trying to hold it
(20:58):
together on a call where this girl has called because
her mom has tried to commit suicide, and how she
has to ask like where the gun is and what
type of gun she used, and if the mom is
still alive, And you know, those calls just have to
be devastating, and you know, as an operator you kind
of have to hold it together until after the shift
when when she says she would like, you know, release
(21:19):
and cry.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
It's one of those things I can't imagine. It's just
it's heartbreaking.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yeah, And the lower staffing levels across the country also
increase the burden on the remaining dispatchers, which makes them
more susceptible to the burnout. So it's really this vicious cycle.
And also since twenty twenty, in the wake of George Floyd,
there's been a perception of nine one one as an
enabler of the police. So these days there's a growing
interest in alternative dispatch or alternative response programs that send
(21:48):
public health and crisis intervention workers instead of cops to
intervene with certain calls. And it's interesting when you look
at the numbers because of the approximately two hundred and
forty million calls made to nine one one every year,
only a small fraction are for serious or violent crimes.
The majority are calls like disorderly conduct and noise complaints,
(22:08):
suspicious people are cars, and mental health issues and also
things like substance use and homelessness, and so you really
don't always need police as first responders.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, I mean, there is this tendency to think of
police as kind of like this all purpose, you know
force there, but they actually are only trained in very
specific ways, and like you wouldn't call the cops to
put out a fire, so it feels weird that we
would call them to deal with a drug overdose or
something else that they're really not equipped for, not trained for.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Yeah, And alternative dispatch programs deploy public health professionals and
crisis workers to situations involving mental health, substance abuse, and homelessness,
so in other words, people who are specifically trained to
resolve those emergencies. The Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab
the GPL, is working with fifteen jurisdictions across the country
(22:57):
to develop and pilot some of these alternative responsestem right now, Yeah, all.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
This it does sort of highlight how knee jerk calling
nine to one one can be, like whatever the emergency
might be, actually there's this funny instance from September of
twenty twenty three when the US Marines actually called nine
to one one to report having lost you know what
they lost? They lost an F thirty five fighter jet.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
It's not like you lost a cat or something.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
No, it's crazy, and it's it's just wild to read
about this story. But eventually they found the pilot, but
somehow not the jet. So if you see an F
thirty five just roaming around your neighborhood, maybe slip a
note to the Pentagon, just just let them know.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Well, should we do a quick round up of funny
nine one one calls from dispatchers on Reddit, because that
would be a better way to do our fact off.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I think we all know this is what this episode
has been building too, So let's do it all right,
Why don't I start with a classic straight from red quote.
Lady called in because she thought Willie Nelson was having
a cardiac arresque in her trailer and she needed an ambulance.
(24:08):
I started giving her CPR instructions, and come to find
out when paramedics got there, she was doing compressions on
the couch cushions. Apparently she was just really.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
High tale as old as time. So I like this
one quote. A concern citizen called in an animal stuck
in a tree, and that animal was a bird.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Oh, just stuck. I had another fun animal call quote.
Middle of the night shift, get a report of a
guy trying to ride on a moose. Officer attends there is,
indeed a male trying to ride said moose. Male is
wearing high visibility vest and helmet, which his girlfriend made
him put on for safety reasons. Of course, I like that.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
That's actually a moose there in that scenario. Yeah, so
this is another animal one quote. I talked to a
pizza delivery guy who couldn't reach his destination because a
defiant chicken was standing in the middle of the road.
I stayed with him on the phone as he pleaded
with it to finally move along. Truly a chicken crossing
the road moment.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Yeah, I see why they would call nine one. Why
that does sound sound terrifying? So yeah, all right, So
I'm gonna end on this one because I really love it.
It is so brazen. Here we go. Quote. Got a
call from one of the managers at a bowling alley
complaining that their ice machine was broken and it's a
really busy night, and if someone doesn't come to fix it,
there will be no cold drinks. I mean, to be fair,
(25:31):
no cold drinks at a bowling alley is an emergency.
So you know this one seems maybe legit thinking more
about it, anyway, what are you gonna end on, Mango?
Speaker 1 (25:39):
I mean, if you think about there will be blood
that bowling alley is seeing. You know, turns dangerous when
there's nothing to drink.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Say it's legit now.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I love the nine one one calls from kids who
are calling to complain that their siblings being mean to
them or won't share their legos. But I think my
favorite one is about a kid and a mom. Uh
so this is how it goes.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
A frazzled mother called because her six year old had
gotten onto the roof and she couldn't get him down.
She kept screaming about how we need to hurry, not
because she was worried he would get hurt, but because
he had done this before and the last time he
peed in the air vents.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
All right, Well, nothing like a little pee in the
air vent to seal a fact off. It's a cheap
way to win it, Mango, But I'm gonna have to
give you this week's trophy. So that's it for this
week's Part Time Genius. If you like the show, want
us to cover any topics, or just want to say
hey to Dylan or tell him to take it easy
on the hot sauce, we always love hearing from you.
Just look for the contacts in the show notes.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
But as always, thanks so much for listening.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Part Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio.
This show is hosted by Will Pearson and me Mongas
Chatikler and research by our goodpal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's
episode was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan
with support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced
for iHeart by Katrina Norbel and Ali Perry, with social
(27:14):
media support from Sasha Gay, Trustee Dara Potts and Viney Shorey.
For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Part-Time Genius News
Host
Will and Mango
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