NationStates

title] Not That Emergency

[desc] It took emergency services 5 hours to rescue people from a broken down elevator in @@CAPITAL@@. This was because their resources were tied up dealing with (among other things) a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital under phony emergency claims and a rather unusual call about a broken DVD player. Unsurprisingly, it took no time at all for the people who had been stuck in that lift to storm off to see you.

[validity] Issue 911

[option] "I was trapped for five hours in an elevator because someone doesn’t know the difference between an ambulance and a taxi" complains @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of the victims "And one of the people who I was stuck with really had to pee! Let’s just say that didn’t end well for any of us… You should tell your emergency service personnel to ignore the calls of those who misuse the services!"
[effect] emergency services often take a "boy who cried wolf" approach

[option] "What we should do is punish misuse of emergency services," suggests @@RANDOMNAME@@, a police officer "Anyone who wastes the time of the emergency service personnel, including those in the call centres, should receive time in prison! I say lock them up!"
[effect] a new jail has been built to accommodate pocket diallers

[option] "This will just discourage people from using the services when required," pleads fire fighter @@RANDOMNAME@@ "I know that there are some people who misuse the system, but overall, they need to know that we'll be there for them in times of crisis, without fearing punishment. In fact, we should double my departments budget, and give all firefighters extra shifts, so that we can always ensure that are people who deal with the real fires, even if there are too many fake incidents, and hey, if we get paid extra wages, that's just a bonus"
[effect] the fire brigade often deal with cases of burnt toast

Run your eye over that and fix the spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes and wrong words, would you? Very hard to take seriously at present.

Fixed!

Cheers.

[title] Not That Emergency

Not sure about the title here. Is it a reference to something?

[desc] After a massive terrorist attack with @@CAPITAL@@, the emergency services were nowhere to be seen.

Sense of proportion needed here. The last "massive terrorist attack" in the issue base sets off an issue chain, and it's hard to imagine that there'd be no response to something of this scale.

Instead, maybe aim a little more believable (but still potentially humorous) with more commonplace emergencies going unanswered for hours at a time. Maybe @@LEADER@@'s second home burns down, or one of your ministers is trapped in a gummed-up revolving door for four hours, or something like that.

They were instead dealing with a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital, under phony emergency claims and the rather unusual case of a broken DVD player. Hours after the event had occurred, and an emergency meeting has been called for you to see what should be done about people who misuse emergency service resources

The last sentence is redundant. Try to avoid ending descriptions with a pronouncement that there's a meeting to discuss things.

[validity] Issue 911

[option] "My son died because of... because of... beaca..."

Spelling.

cries @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@ the mother of a victim of the attacks, before pulling herself together

Missing comma.

"Because some old man was pretending to have a heart attack, whilst my son was having a real heart attack.

What? I thought you said it was a terrorist attack? Be consistent.

People who don't know the difference between an ambulance and a taxi are putting lives in danger, and should be barred from using emergency services"

That's the crux. Refocus the option on the decision being offered.

[effect] emergency services often take a "boy who cried wolf approach"

I think the inverted commas should close after wolf, not approach.

[option] "What we should do is punish misuse of emergency services"

Comma inside the quote marks.

suggests @@RANDOMNAME@@, a police officer "Anyone who wastes the time of the emergency service personnel, including those in the call centers,

Huh, didn't know Australians spelt 'centres' that way.

should receive time in prison! I say lock them up!"
[effect] a new jail has been built to accommodate pocket dialers

What is a "pocket dialer"?

[option] "This will just discourage people from using the services when required"

Missing comma.

please

Not a verb.

fire fighter @@RANDOMNAME@@

An odd individual to plead clemency for misuse of emergency services.

"I know that there are some people who misuse the system, but overall, they need to know that we'll be there for them in times of crisis, without fearing punishment"

So what's the option actually do, other than dismiss?

[effect] the fire brigade often deal with cases of burnt toast

Nice.

Thank You very, very much for your contribution, CWA!

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Cheers.

Not sure about the title here. Is it a reference to something?

Nah, I just couldn't come up with anything better

[desc] After a massive terrorist attack with @@CAPITAL@@, the emergency services were nowhere to be seen.

Sense of proportion needed here. The last "massive terrorist attack" in the issue base sets off an issue chain, and it's hard to imagine that there'd be no response to something of this scale.

Instead, maybe aim a little more believable (but still potentially humorous) with more commonplace emergencies going unanswered for hours at a time. Maybe @@LEADER@@'s second home burns down, or one of your ministers is trapped in a gummed-up revolving door for four hours, or something like that.

They were instead dealing with a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital, under phony emergency claims and the rather unusual case of a broken DVD player. Hours after the event had occurred, and an emergency meeting has been called for you to see what should be done about people who misuse emergency service resources

The last sentence is redundant. Try to avoid ending descriptions with a pronouncement that there's a meeting to discuss things.

[validity] Issue 911

[option] "My son died because of... because of... beaca..."

Spelling.

cries @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@ the mother of a victim of the attacks, before pulling herself together

Missing comma.

"Because some old man was pretending to have a heart attack, whilst my son was having a real heart attack.

What? I thought you said it was a terrorist attack? Be consistent.

People who don't know the difference between an ambulance and a taxi are putting lives in danger, and should be barred from using emergency services"

That's the crux. Refocus the option on the decision being offered.

[effect] emergency services often take a "boy who cried wolf approach"

I think the inverted commas should close after wolf, not approach.

Yea, I just completely changed the entire first option

[option] "What we should do is punish misuse of emergency services"

Comma inside the quote marks.

suggests @@RANDOMNAME@@, a police officer "Anyone who wastes the time of the emergency service personnel, including those in the call centers,

Huh, didn't know Australians spelt 'centres' that way.

Fixed, thanks

should receive time in prison! I say lock them up!"
[effect] a new jail has been built to accommodate pocket dialers

What is a "pocket dialer"?

Pocket dialling is when you leave your mobile phone in your pocket or handbag, and as a result of movement, it accidentally makes unintentional phone calls. The people who are rung usually hear weird background noise, and occasionally conversations that the pocket dallier is having. Apparently 9-1-1 in the USA receives millions of calls from pocket dialling alone

Read more (particularly the section about calling emergency services)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_dialing

[option] "This will just discourage people from using the services when required"

Missing comma.

please

Not a verb.

fire fighter @@RANDOMNAME@@

An odd individual to plead clemency for misuse of emergency services.

"I know that there are some people who misuse the system, but overall, they need to know that we'll be there for them in times of crisis, without fearing punishment"

So what's the option actually do, other than dismiss?

[effect] the fire brigade often deal with cases of burnt toast

Nice.

[/quote]
Hopefully it's better now

Huh, pocket dialing. Learnt something new. Cheers.

A good idea is resting here, but you'll need to do a bit of clean-up.

For an intro, how does this look? In your old intro, you start saying that the services failed to rescue the people in the lift (implying that they all died tbh), but then at the end say they were rescued but only after a few hours. So I've taken the liberty to clear it all up.

It took emergency services 5 hours to rescue people from a broken down elevator in @@CAPITAL@@. This was because their resources were tied up dealing with (among other things) a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital under phony emergency claims and a rather unusual call about a broken DVD player. Unsurprisingly, it took no time at all for the people who had been stuck in that lift to storm off to see you.

Australian Republic wrote:
[option] "I was trapped for three hours in an elevator because someone doesn’t know the difference between an ambulance and a taxi” complains @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of the victims “And one of the people who I was stuck with had a bad case of diarrhea! Let’s just say that didn’t end well for any of us… You should tell your emergency service personel to ignore the calls of those who misuse the services!”
[effect] emergency services often take a "boy who cried wolf" approach

Oooh um ... that's really bloody grim, I'm not going to lie. How about something a bit less extreme, like that it was really cramped in there or that one of the people never shut up about their dog in there?

Australian Republic wrote:
[effect] a new jail has been built to accommodate pocket dialers

Win

Australian Republic wrote:[option] "This will just discourage people from using the services when required," pleads fire fighter @@RANDOMNAME@@ "I know that there are some people who misuse the system, but overall, they need to know that we'll be there for them in times of crisis, without fearing punishment. In fact, we should double my departments budget, and give all firefighers extra shifts, so that we can always ensure that are people who deal with the real fires, even if there are too many fake incidents"
[effect] the fire brigade often deal with cases of burnt toast

Would a fire fighter actually plead for more shifts though? Surely a more realistic way would be to encourage leader to hire more of them?

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Huh, pocket dialing. Learnt something new. Cheers.

Obviously never met my dad.

It's extremely annoying to receive pocket dials.

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Huh, pocket dialing. Learnt something new. Cheers.

You're Welcome

Annihilators of Chan Island wrote:A good idea is resting here, but you'll need to do a bit of clean-up.

For an intro, how does this look? In your old intro, you start saying that the services failed to rescue the people in the lift (implying that they all died tbh), but then at the end say they were rescued but only after a few hours. So I've taken the liberty to clear it all up.

It took emergency services 5 hours to rescue people from a broken down elevator in @@CAPITAL@@. This was because their resources were tied up dealing with (among other things) a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital under phony emergency claims and a rather unusual call about a broken DVD player. Unsurprisingly, it took no time at all for the people who had been stuck in that lift to storm off to see you.

Will do, thanks

Australian Republic wrote:
[option] "I was trapped for three hours in an elevator because someone doesn’t know the difference between an ambulance and a taxi” complains @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of the victims “And one of the people who I was stuck with had a bad case of diarrhea! Let’s just say that didn’t end well for any of us… You should tell your emergency service personel to ignore the calls of those who misuse the services!”
[effect] emergency services often take a "boy who cried wolf" approach

Oooh um ... that's really bloody grim, I'm not going to lie. How about something a bit less extreme, like that it was really cramped in there or that one of the people never shut up about their dog in there?

But, but, the toilet humour...
Yea, the more extreme it is, the more attention it will off to the committee and the more liekly something will be to happen. Besides, after 5 hours, there would be atleast one person who would have to urinate, and atleast this addresses all the invetiable toilet concerns. If someone else thinks it should be changed, I'll change it

Australian Republic wrote:
[effect] a new jail has been built to accommodate pocket dialers

Win

Thank You!

Australian Republic wrote:[option] "This will just discourage people from using the services when required," pleads fire fighter @@RANDOMNAME@@ "I know that there are some people who misuse the system, but overall, they need to know that we'll be there for them in times of crisis, without fearing punishment. In fact, we should double my departments budget, and give all firefighers extra shifts, so that we can always ensure that are people who deal with the real fires, even if there are too many fake incidents"
[effect] the fire brigade often deal with cases of burnt toast

Would a fire fighter actually plead for more shifts though? Surely a more realistic way would be to encourage leader to hire more of them?

Yes, more shifts = more money. I should specify that he's paid by number of shifts though, shouldn't I?

Fixed on Chan's suggestions. Athank you very much! Also, diarrhea has been changed to peeing. Anything else?

Australian Republic wrote:[title] Not That Emergency

[desc] It took emergency services 5 hours to rescue people from a broken down elevator in @@CAPITAL@@. This was because their resources were tied up dealing with (among other things) a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital under phony emergency claims and a rather unusual call about a broken DVD player. Unsurprisingly, it took no time at all for the people who had been stuck in that lift to storm off to see you.

[validity] Issue 911

[option] "I was trapped for five hours in an elevator because someone doesn’t know the difference between an ambulance and a taxi” complains @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of the victims “And one of the people who I was stuck with really had to pee! Let’s just say that didn’t end well for any of us… You should tell your emergency service personel to ignore the calls of those who misuse the services!”
[effect] emergency services often take a "boy who cried wolf" approach

[option] "What we should do is punish misuse of emergency services," suggests @@RANDOMNAME@@, a police officer "Anyone who wastes the time of the emergency service personnel, including those in the call centres, should receive time in prison! I say lock them up!"
[effect] a new jail has been built to accommodate pocket dialers

[option] "This will just discourage people from using the services when required," pleads fire fighter @@RANDOMNAME@@ "I know that there are some people who misuse the system, but overall, they need to know that we'll be there for them in times of crisis, without fearing punishment. In fact, we should double my departments budget, and give all firefighers extra shifts, so that we can always ensure that are people who deal with the real fires, even if there are too many fake incidents, and hey, if we get paid extra wages, that's just a bonus"
[effect] the fire brigade often deal with cases of burnt toast

[title] Not That Emergency

[desc] After a massive terrorist attack with @@CAPITAL@@, the emergency services were nowhere to be seen. They were instead dealing with a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital, under phony emergency claims and the rather unusual case of a broken DVD player. Hours after the event had occurred, and an emergency meeting has been called for you to see what should be done about people who misuse emergency service resources

[validity] Issue 911

[option] "My son died because of... because of... beaca..." cries @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@ the mother of a victim of the attacks, before pulling herself together "Because some old man was pretending to have a heart attack, whilst my son was having a real heart attack. People who don't know the difference between an ambulance and a taxi are putting lives in danger, and should be barred from using emergency services"
[effect] emergency services often take a "boy who cried wolf approach"

[option] "What we should do is punish misuse of emergency services" suggests @@RANDOMNAME@@, a police officer "Anyone who wastes the time of the emergency service personnel, including those in the call centers, should receive time in prison! I say lock them up!"
[effect] a new jail has been built to accommodate pocket dialers

[option] "This will just discourage people from using the services when required" please fire fighter @@RANDOMNAME@@, who gets paid by the number of shifts, "I know that there are some people who misuse the system, but overall, they need to know that we'll be there for them in times of crisis, without fearing punishment"
[effect] the fire brigade often deal with cases of burnt toast

Nice issue, Aussie!

Sadly, it is too similar to the draft I just posted. (But hey, I am the one who needs to worry about overlap, not you. You posted this way before I posted my own draft.)

Now, coming to my comments...

1.
"It took emergency services 5 hours to rescue people from a broken down elevator in @@CAPITAL@@. This was because their resources were tied up dealing with (among other things) a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital under phony emergency claims and a rather unusual call about a broken DVD player.

This may be a nitpicky comment, but there are two ways in which it may take long for the emergency services to rescue these people.

(1) They might be understaffed, and because their small number of call-takers deal with frivolous calls, they might not have time to take this emergency call.

(2) They might take this call and alert the relevant department (fire brigade, police, paramedics) and dispatch them to the location from which the emergency calls came. But if some of these emergency calls were fake, the rescuers will waste time on them and consequently, they will not be able to help those trapped in the elevator.

From what I understand, your call-takers were actually able to take the call (and the trapped people did not have to wait on the phone for 5 hours to speak to someone). So the problem must have been that the rescuers (firefighters, I suppose) were occupied with a trifle elsewhere, and could not rush to these people's help.

But this scenario only makes sense if the emergency call appears to be a real emergency at first sight, at least until you arrive there and see what it's all about. But if the call is something fishy to begin with, the call-takers would not dispatch anyone there and they would just ignore the call.

Long story short, I want to say that it might be good to remove the call about the broken DVD from the description, because this would be one of those hoax calls that can be instantly identified and ignored. (I told you this was going to be a nitpicky comment.)

2. As for Option 2, (OK, again a pedantic comment), I think it could be better if the policeman said that these people should be punished more severely, and not just punished. Because I think any reasonable legal system would have some sort of penalty for frivolous uses of these emergency services, but the penalties (maybe a fine, or doing community service for a few weeks) may simply be not deterrent enough.

3. Would the firefighter really want extra shifts? Yes, he will earn more, but in return for longer working hours. It's not really a big improvement. Maybe it would be an option to separate the fire brigade into two sections, one for real fires and another for more trivial matters? (These trivial matters need not be fake calls or pranks. You know, sometimes people call the fire brigade because a kitten is stuck in a tree, or because they got fat and realized that they cannot take off their wedding ring any more and their finger has swollen. I am not saying these things are unimportant, but they don't have the same degree of urgency as a fire.) Then the firefighter could suggest that more experienced firefighters like himself be assigned to the "Serious Fire Department" where they deal with real fires, and because this job involves more risk, he could demand more pay.

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Huh, pocket dialing. Learnt something new. Cheers.

Fun fact: It is also called butt-calling.

Frieden-und Freudenland wrote:

Australian Republic wrote:[title] Not That Emergency

[desc] It took emergency services 5 hours to rescue people from a broken down elevator in @@CAPITAL@@. This was because their resources were tied up dealing with (among other things) a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital under phony emergency claims and a rather unusual call about a broken DVD player. Unsurprisingly, it took no time at all for the people who had been stuck in that lift to storm off to see you.

[validity] Issue 911

[option] "I was trapped for five hours in an elevator because someone doesn’t know the difference between an ambulance and a taxi” complains @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of the victims “And one of the people who I was stuck with really had to pee! Let’s just say that didn’t end well for any of us… You should tell your emergency service personel to ignore the calls of those who misuse the services!”
[effect] emergency services often take a "boy who cried wolf" approach

[option] "What we should do is punish misuse of emergency services," suggests @@RANDOMNAME@@, a police officer "Anyone who wastes the time of the emergency service personnel, including those in the call centres, should receive time in prison! I say lock them up!"
[effect] a new jail has been built to accommodate pocket dialers

[option] "This will just discourage people from using the services when required," pleads fire fighter @@RANDOMNAME@@ "I know that there are some people who misuse the system, but overall, they need to know that we'll be there for them in times of crisis, without fearing punishment. In fact, we should double my departments budget, and give all firefighers extra shifts, so that we can always ensure that are people who deal with the real fires, even if there are too many fake incidents, and hey, if we get paid extra wages, that's just a bonus"
[effect] the fire brigade often deal with cases of burnt toast

[title] Not That Emergency

[desc] After a massive terrorist attack with @@CAPITAL@@, the emergency services were nowhere to be seen. They were instead dealing with a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital, under phony emergency claims and the rather unusual case of a broken DVD player. Hours after the event had occurred, and an emergency meeting has been called for you to see what should be done about people who misuse emergency service resources

[validity] Issue 911

[option] "My son died because of... because of... beaca..." cries @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@ the mother of a victim of the attacks, before pulling herself together "Because some old man was pretending to have a heart attack, whilst my son was having a real heart attack. People who don't know the difference between an ambulance and a taxi are putting lives in danger, and should be barred from using emergency services"
[effect] emergency services often take a "boy who cried wolf approach"

[option] "What we should do is punish misuse of emergency services" suggests @@RANDOMNAME@@, a police officer "Anyone who wastes the time of the emergency service personnel, including those in the call centers, should receive time in prison! I say lock them up!"
[effect] a new jail has been built to accommodate pocket dialers

[option] "This will just discourage people from using the services when required" please fire fighter @@RANDOMNAME@@, who gets paid by the number of shifts, "I know that there are some people who misuse the system, but overall, they need to know that we'll be there for them in times of crisis, without fearing punishment"
[effect] the fire brigade often deal with cases of burnt toast

Nice issue, Aussie!

Sadly, it is too similar to the draft I just posted. (But hey, I am the one who needs to worry about overlap, not you. You posted this way before I posted my own draft.)

Now, coming to my comments...

1.
"It took emergency services 5 hours to rescue people from a broken down elevator in @@CAPITAL@@. This was because their resources were tied up dealing with (among other things) a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital under phony emergency claims and a rather unusual call about a broken DVD player.

This may be a nitpicky comment, but there are two ways in which it may take long for the emergency services to rescue these people.

(1) They might be understaffed, and because their small number of call-takers deal with frivolous calls, they might not have time to take this emergency call.

(2) They might take this call and alert the relevant department (fire brigade, police, paramedics) and dispatch them to the location from which the emergency calls came. But if some of these emergency calls were fake, the rescuers will waste time on them and consequently, they will not be able to help those trapped in the elevator.

Thanks Fuf! This is actually based on real life occurances in Australia, where people ring 000 (Australia's equivilant of 911) for frivilous reasons, and misuse the service. People misusing ambulances because they don't want to pay for taxis is the reason why an ambulance costs $300 per use (exceptions apply) and the exceptions are responsible for a major public awarness campaing, telling people not to use ambulances as taxis. Also, the DVD player is based on an incident which I heard about in real life. I can't confirm it happened though, just something I heard about

From what I understand, your call-takers were actually able to take the call (and the trapped people did not have to wait on the phone for 5 hours to speak to someone). So the problem must have been that the rescuers (firefighters, I suppose) were occupied with a trifle elsewhere, and could not rush to these people's help.

But this scenario only makes sense if the emergency call appears to be a real emergency at first sight, at least until you arrive there and see what it's all about. But if the call is something fishy to begin with, the call-takers would not dispatch anyone there and they would just ignore the call.

Long story short, I want to say that it might be good to remove the call about the broken DVD from the description, because this would be one of those hoax calls that can be instantly identified and ignored. (I told you this was going to be a nitpicky comment.)

I don't know how it works, I honestly don't, but I assume that there are many people out there who aren't exactly honest when it comes to these things

2. As for Option 2, (OK, again a pedantic comment), I think it could be better if the policeman said that these people should be punished more severely, and not just punished. Because I think any reasonable legal system would have some sort of penalty for frivolous uses of these emergency services, but the penalties (maybe a fine, or doing community service for a few weeks) may simply be not deterrent enough.

Good spot, thanks!

3. Would the firefighter really want extra shifts? Yes, he will earn more, but in return for longer working hours. It's not really a big improvement. Maybe it would be an option to separate the fire brigade into two sections, one for real fires and another for more trivial matters? (These trivial matters need not be fake calls or pranks. You know, sometimes people call the fire brigade because a kitten is stuck in a tree, or because they got fat and realized that they cannot take off their wedding ring any more and their finger has swollen. I am not saying these things are unimportant, but they don't have the same degree of urgency as a fire.) Then the firefighter could suggest that more experienced firefighters like himself be assigned to the "Serious Fire Department" where they deal with real fires, and because this job involves more risk, he could demand more pay.

As I said, this is happens in real life, and I don't know how it works, but I assume it has to do with manipulation. (Yes, I know that this is fiction, and not in the least bit reality) you then have the case of the TV show the Simpsons, where Homer accidently dialled 911 and he was too embarrasesed to admit it, so he set his house on fire. Though I would imagine that most people who have cats up trees would be telling the truth. When my shelter dog first came home and she was scared of us (my family and I), she would hide under the house, and we had to call the fire department

Bump

Last call before submission

I don’t really like the description, tbh. I’d merge the first two sentences. “This is because...” rarely bodes well for an issue IMO, and this isn’t different. Make it read “It took emergency services 5 hours to rescue people from a broken down elevator in @@CAPITAL@, because their resources were tied up dealing with (among other things) a fake bomb threat, driving elderly patients to the hospital under phony emergency claims and a rather unusual call about a broken DVD player“

Fix the smart quotes, and run it through a spellchecker please.

Fixed, anything else?

Forgot a few smart quotes in option 1. Here

I wrote:"I was trapped for five hours in an elevator because someone doesn't know the difference between an ambulance and a taxi" complains @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of the victims "And one of the people who I was stuck with really had to pee! Let's just say that didn't end well for any of us… You should tell your emergency service personnel to ignore the calls of those who misuse the services!"

Jutsa wrote:Forgot a few smart quotes in option 1. Here

I wrote:"I was trapped for five hours in an elevator because someone doesn't know the difference between an ambulance and a taxi" complains @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of the victims "And one of the people who I was stuck with really had to pee! Let's just say that didn't end well for any of us… You should tell your emergency service personnel to ignore the calls of those who misuse the services!"

Thanks!

9-1-1 was already decided, soooooo

I either missed or forgot that - who won? I'm going to assume it was drasnia.

Also, that doesn't stop you from still submitting this as an issue - just, it wouldn't be issue #911.

Jutsa wrote:I either missed or forgot that - who won? I'm going to assume it was drasnia.

Also, that doesn't stop you from still submitting this as an issue - just, it wouldn't be issue #911.

I'm just saying it shouldn't be in the thread title anymore.

By the way, Kaschovia won.

Damn! Okay, I'll submit this now

Good luck