call is still in progress.
The next thing she did was to assess whether the scene was safe—relatively speaking—for the responding officers and EMTs. This will determine how those professionals perform upon arrival.
While these units are rolling, the dispatcher may also have the witness go to the victim to assess his apparent condition.
Expert Witness
Fredericka Lawrence, a 911 operator for Bucks County, Pennsylvania, says, “We talk the witness through an assessment. We ask about the types and locations of the injuries, and whether they’re actively bleeding. We ask them if the victim is conscious and responsive. If they are not immediately responsive, we ask them to try painful stimuli, which means they pinch the back of the upper arm. If the victim is conscious on any level, they’ll react to that. Sometimes the witness is asked to provide first aid. For a badly bleeding wound, we’ll ask them to apply direct pressure with a clean cloth; and I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve talked a witness through CPR. Sometimes the witness is a real lifesaver.”
“When calling 911, it’s essential that you cooperate with the dispatcher,” insists Cass Brennan, who worked dispatch in three different Ohio counties in the 1980s and 1990s. “That means that you should be as calm as possible and listen to their questions and provide the best answers you can. Don’t argue, and don’t make a fuss if they insist that you answer their questions, even if it means having to repeat information. 911 operators are trained to ask very specific questions and to keep the caller as calm as possible. They also want to keep witnesses in place so they don’t leave, don’t panic, and don’t compromise the crime scene.”
The operator enters all the pertinent information into the computer so that a permanent and easily accessible record of the incident is always available. All 911 calls are recorded, and every call is given an incident number. It’s useful to ask for the incident number in case you lose your connection or have to call back for any reason. The dispatcher will generally not offer this number but will provide it when asked. Tapes and/or transcripts of 911 calls are available on request—they’re not confidential and are a matter of public record. If you’re involved in an incident, you can request a copy of the tape. If you’ve witnessed a zombie attack, then that tape will probably get you on Larry King (but it is illegal to try and sell it on eBay).
----
Zombies…Fast or Slow? Part 1
Few topics are debated quite as heatedly as that of the speed of the living dead. Romero had them move slow, and for most fans of the genre that is tantamount to the word of God. Upstart directors like Dan O’Bannon ( Return of the Living Dead ) and Zack Snyder ( Dawn of the Dead ) like their zombies to be more fleet-footed. I polled some key players in the world of zombie pop culture to see where they stand:
“Sssslllloooowwww!”—Max Brooks, author of World War Z
“For me, slow…. although I was pleasantly surprised by the
Dawn of the Dead remake and its Olympic sprinters. But I like slow ghouls—they seem a little more elegant and there’s a nice sense of inevitability in them catching up with the living. No matter how fast you run away, Death will always get you. Eventually.”—Jamie Russell, author of Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema (FAB Press).
“I think slow zombies are scary as hell en masse, but I wanted the zombies in the remake to be scary individually as well. The first thing I wrote in the movie was the first sequence in the movie—that of Ana’s husband being attacked by the little girl, Vivian (which was actually the name of the little girl who lived next door to me at the time). Maybe I made her fast, because a slow little zombie girl in the morning light just didn’t seem as scary. Whatever, I liked the idea of her jumping up and
The next thing she did was to assess whether the scene was safe—relatively speaking—for the responding officers and EMTs. This will determine how those professionals perform upon arrival.
While these units are rolling, the dispatcher may also have the witness go to the victim to assess his apparent condition.
Expert Witness
Fredericka Lawrence, a 911 operator for Bucks County, Pennsylvania, says, “We talk the witness through an assessment. We ask about the types and locations of the injuries, and whether they’re actively bleeding. We ask them if the victim is conscious and responsive. If they are not immediately responsive, we ask them to try painful stimuli, which means they pinch the back of the upper arm. If the victim is conscious on any level, they’ll react to that. Sometimes the witness is asked to provide first aid. For a badly bleeding wound, we’ll ask them to apply direct pressure with a clean cloth; and I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve talked a witness through CPR. Sometimes the witness is a real lifesaver.”
“When calling 911, it’s essential that you cooperate with the dispatcher,” insists Cass Brennan, who worked dispatch in three different Ohio counties in the 1980s and 1990s. “That means that you should be as calm as possible and listen to their questions and provide the best answers you can. Don’t argue, and don’t make a fuss if they insist that you answer their questions, even if it means having to repeat information. 911 operators are trained to ask very specific questions and to keep the caller as calm as possible. They also want to keep witnesses in place so they don’t leave, don’t panic, and don’t compromise the crime scene.”
The operator enters all the pertinent information into the computer so that a permanent and easily accessible record of the incident is always available. All 911 calls are recorded, and every call is given an incident number. It’s useful to ask for the incident number in case you lose your connection or have to call back for any reason. The dispatcher will generally not offer this number but will provide it when asked. Tapes and/or transcripts of 911 calls are available on request—they’re not confidential and are a matter of public record. If you’re involved in an incident, you can request a copy of the tape. If you’ve witnessed a zombie attack, then that tape will probably get you on Larry King (but it is illegal to try and sell it on eBay).
----
Zombies…Fast or Slow? Part 1
Few topics are debated quite as heatedly as that of the speed of the living dead. Romero had them move slow, and for most fans of the genre that is tantamount to the word of God. Upstart directors like Dan O’Bannon ( Return of the Living Dead ) and Zack Snyder ( Dawn of the Dead ) like their zombies to be more fleet-footed. I polled some key players in the world of zombie pop culture to see where they stand:
“Sssslllloooowwww!”—Max Brooks, author of World War Z
“For me, slow…. although I was pleasantly surprised by the
Dawn of the Dead remake and its Olympic sprinters. But I like slow ghouls—they seem a little more elegant and there’s a nice sense of inevitability in them catching up with the living. No matter how fast you run away, Death will always get you. Eventually.”—Jamie Russell, author of Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema (FAB Press).
“I think slow zombies are scary as hell en masse, but I wanted the zombies in the remake to be scary individually as well. The first thing I wrote in the movie was the first sequence in the movie—that of Ana’s husband being attacked by the little girl, Vivian (which was actually the name of the little girl who lived next door to me at the time). Maybe I made her fast, because a slow little zombie girl in the morning light just didn’t seem as scary. Whatever, I liked the idea of her jumping up and
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