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Social Media Can’t Do Everything!

By on October 30, 2012
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An interesting tweet appeared in the Twitterstream Monday night, after Hurricane Sandy made its landfall and turned into a winter cyclone.

From the official Twitter account of the New York Fire Department came this:

PLEASE NOTE: *Do not* tweet emergency calls. Please call 911. If it is not an emergency, please call 311.

You know, sometimes you just want to beat your own head against a wall in sheer amazement at what people will do thinking it’s a good idea.

Why would anyone tweet an emergency call anywhere? If you have cell phone power, there’s a good chance you can actually make a telephone call to the authorities. In an emergency, 911 call centers are manned. A social media account may not necessarily be. At least not with the speed to dispatch emergency crews where they’re needed in as timely a fashion as a phone call to a 911 operator would.

It might occur to me to use Twitter or Facebook to report weather as it’s happening, but even then, I’d understand that I was reporting it to people who happened to be watching their feed.

If I were in an actual emergency that required police, fire or ambulance, I’d at least have enough sense to call them.

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psalm23
psalm23

Here in the Midwest, I can actually think of times that I've had internet access on my computer and limited or no phone service. For people who do not have cell phones, or do not have wired (not portable) landline phones, losing power means losing phone service. We had a blizzard a few years ago that took our power out but I could still use the internet (until my laptop battery died). We do have corded landline phones, though, so I could call if I'd needed too.

I wonder if you can Skype (or whatever) 911? 

patricksplace
patricksplace moderator

@psalm23 I'm pretty sure that Skype doesn't support 911 calls. MAYBE if they use the audio-only, the call might go through (if Skype allows 911 to be called), but then there's no telling how the call would be routed, so there's no telling which 911 service you'd actually reach.

Of course, you really run the same risk when you call 911 from a cell phone: the 911 operator you get might not be anywhere near the place you're in at the time you call.

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