On the phone with 911

The seizure is one problem. The phone call is another. This is practice at saying the right thing, in the right order, to a dispatcher who is typing while you talk.

Pick a call below. You will get the situation, then the dispatcher answers and starts asking questions.
You Dispatcher Line open
0:00 not dialled
Dispatcher Choose a call to start. Dispatchers ask for location before anything else, so that is where the practice begins.

How the call went

0right first time
0needed a second try
0:00on the line

Free Minnesota training

What dispatch has so far

    Transcript

    • Nothing yet.

    The school part of the call

    • Send someone to the nearest outside door. School doors lock, and a crew standing outside is a crew not treating the student.
    • Send a second person for the seizure action plan and any rescue medicine, including the box or label.
    • Clear the route: prop doors, move chairs and tables, hold the elevator, move the crowd of students out.
    • Write the times as they happen. Seizure start, seizure stop, medicine given, 911 dialled, crew on scene.
    • One person talks to the dispatcher. That person does not also do first aid.

    Call card: what to say to 911, in order

    Print this and tape it inside a cupboard door in the office, the nurse's room, and the gym.

    1. The addressStreet number, street, city. Say it before anything else, even if you are interrupted.
    2. Where in the buildingRoom number, floor, wing, and the nearest outside door for the crew.
    3. What is happeningA seizure, whether the body is convulsing, and that the person is on the floor.
    4. How longThe clock time it started. A number, not a feeling.
    5. BreathingLook, then say what you actually see. Colour of the lips counts.
    1. Age and historyAge, whether they have had seizures before, and whether a plan is on file. If you do not know, say so.
    2. Anything givenWhich rescue medicine and the time it was given. If none, say none.
    3. Who meets the crewName the person and the door. Say who is bringing the plan and the medicine.
    4. Stay on the lineUntil the dispatcher releases you. Someone else calls the family.

    Write these down before you forget them

    • Time the seizure started and time it stopped
    • What the movements looked like and where they began
    • Whether the student answered to their name
    • Any injury, and how it happened
    • Rescue medicine given, which one, and at what time
    • Time 911 was dialled and time the crew arrived
    • Who was told, and when the family was reached
    • How long until the student was back to normal

    This is practice, not medical advice or certification. Dispatch protocols vary between counties, so follow whatever your own dispatcher tells you on the day. A student's care is set by their healthcare provider and their seizure action plan.