if it's good, keep it!

I marvel at how some of us have photographic memories and can remember all the important telephone numbers. This is especially so for the emergency tele numbers like for the Police, Ambulance, Fire Brigade.

I look with envy because, honestly, except for "999" - Police, I don't know any other numbers to dial. Hmm, I am not sure if 995 is for the Fire Brigade or the Ambulance. *wait, let me check: 995 is Fire Brigade. Aunt Fizah said 991 is for the Ambulance. Err... she is wrong! Okay, now we are having this huge debate about what numbers belong to who and then we are also saying maybe we should call all these numbers that came out to ask them if they are what we think they are. Oh by the way, there is another number to dial for the ambulance if it is not an emergency.*

My point being:

NO ONE REMEMBERS ALL THESE FREAKING NUMBERS!

and especially so in emergencies where our minds are somewhere else, and so are our hearts.

So why don't we adopt another system?

I like the 911.

How does 911 Work?

The people who answer the 9-1-1 calls are referred to as Call Takers. The facility where the calls are answered is referred to as the Central Emergency Reporting Bureau or C.E.R.B.

1. When a call taker receives a 9-1-1 call, their computer screen will display the caller's name, telephone number, civic address and municipality.
2. The call taker will ask the caller whether they require Police, Fire or Ambulance assistance. *This is great!*
3. The computer will respond to the selection made by the call taker and route the call to the appropriate dispatch agency, depending on the information associated with the telephone number.
   
4. The same information will then be displayed on a computer screen at the emergency dispatch agency.
   
5. Once the call taker from the C.E.R.B. has made the connection and hears the caller and dispatcher from the emergency service talking, the call taker will disconnect themselves and free up the line for another call.
   
6. Once the caller's address has been reconfirmed, the dispatch agency will send help.
7. If no response is received from the caller, the police department serving that area will be dispatched to the caller's address. *Wow! They really really concerned!*
8. Special upgrades to the call takers' computers have been made to accept 9-1-1 calls from people using Telephone Devices for the Deaf and Teletypewriter equipment. *Totally considerate because the system caters to handicaps as well.*
9. To minimize any delays in the event of electronic malfunctions, there is an alternate C.E.R.B. at OPP Headquarters in North Bay, and all C.E.R.B.s are equipped with generators in case of power outages. *No chance of mistakes and miss calls*
   

*Information taken from this site.

Can Singapore adopt this system? Err, some of us will say, "Some of our numbers are privatized and will not be displayed" Yes of course, on our normal ID callers but that's where the difference can be made. I mean, the system at the Central Emergency Reporting Bureau should be programmed in such a manner that it CAN display all information.

Then I think kids and/ or adults who are bored and want to make prank calls to 911 will decrease drastically because the Police will show up at their doorsteps!

I am all for this! Are you?