911 is in a state of emergency: We make around 240 million calls to the service per year and ingrain the number into kids’ brains from an early age using toys and folksy pulic service announcements. But the system is flawed, says John Oliver, who dedicated last night’s episode of Last Week Tonight to our 911 crisis, pointing out the inefficiency of a system, designed pre-smartphone, that can’t yet accurately track our locations or accept text messages. After all, shouldn’t it be easier to get an ambulance than a pizza?
It’s not just the technological side of things that’s a problem, though. When they’re not being plagued by butt dials and nonemergencies, 911 dispatchers are under incredible levels of stress that most of us just don’t have to deal with in our daily lives, notes Oliver. “For me, the difference between a good day and a bad day is whether there’s hazelnut creamer in the break room,” he said. “Or whether Janice from accounting drank it all again.”
But for a dispatcher, that difference may be as drastic as saving a life or losing one, a high-pressure environment that, combined with funding cuts, makes it hard to keep centers fully staffed—if you’re feeling brave, Google “understaffed 911 dispatch.” The solution? In short: Restore funding, improve the technology, and in the meantime, make those cheesy PSAs just a little more accurate.
