That's an interesting read, I've often wondered how it can be legal to release those tapes.

If it was the People's right to know, it would be in the Constitution.

If we have any right to know, why aren't they releasing private conversations between government officials and the people who own and operate them, especially since it does concern US?

America is a country of voyeurs. People absorb their sex and other people's agony through their optic nerves. "Reality" has nothing to do with it. It's just voyeurism, and it's so incredibly pathetic that I doubt there is even a word for it.

Is the media going to exercise any good taste? NO. After all, why start NOW?

Is the American public going to refuse to watch it? NO. The garbage that they watch is an imitation of the useless, pointless, boring, ineffective lives they lead. Has anyone read 1984 recently?

Sue

I'd never before considered the propriety of airing 911 calls. But it is sensationalistic, to be sure.


"Most people calling 911 are not auditioning for a reality show; most people calling 911 are not doing it because they have any choice. The least we can do, the next time we find ourselves blithely listening to a tape of one of our fellow citizens in the most awful moments of suffering he or she will ever face, is perhaps to quietly ask ourselves:

Shouldn't we be better than this?"

I wouldn't single out us Americans- humans are voyeurs. Some people hide it better, but "bread and circuses" seems to be pretty universal.

I think any Country that has Internet Access,is a Country of "Voyeurs" In this day & age

I would think that any 911 call involving a medical situation would be protected under HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule).

HIPAA

Pete

While that's an intersting point Pete, doesn't HIPAA only cover medical issues between medical providers?

I bet they could say, well, the operator isn't forming a patient-provider relationship, so it's not truly confidential. Plus, there's no true "diagnosis" involved.

I have to say, I haven't heard too many 911 tapes. It's not like there's the "911 hour" on my local presets. Besides, if they air enough of the stupid ones, maybe people will get the point (you know, directions when lost, store hours, that kind of crap).

911 dispatchers aren't health care providers, no expectation of privacy exists, HIPAA does not apply. It doesn't apply in a lot of cases where it's claimed to apply actually but that's another topic all together.

John E

I cannot address other 911 systems, but here in Frederick and I belive all of Maryland, 911 dispatchers are at least EMT-Dispatchers and do provide medical guidance in the form of set of on-line medical protocols. I believe for at least medical 911 calls, a court order or at minimum, a formal request in writing from the lawyer of a potential plaintiff in a medical malpractice case is required.

Pete