I know lots of people are reluctant to call 911 the first time and even second guess themselves out of dialing. Personaly, due to some of my prior employment I called 100 plus times.

The basic; Who, What, When, Whear and Why are good to know.

Lets take a hypothetical car accident as an example.

Car overturned on the side of a low population road. (Not in the city as this is much eaiser to give cross streets.)

What: Overturned vehicle (type of vehicle)

Who: A man and a woman stuck in the cab of a (color of vehicle) pickup truck. Also are there any first responders at the scene? In my area there are several no reception for cell phone locations, so you may not be at the scene when calling, a good reason to have a pen and paper handy.

Whear: Give road or highway number and if at all possible the mile marker for the location. (the last time I called to report a Drunk Driver/erratic driver my call got routed through San Fancisco Bay area on the operators screen and I was calling in Arizona.) In the city a street adress with cross streets is very helpfull.

When: Did it just happen, or did you need to drive away from the scene for cell reception. If it was the latter that may be a good time to confirm the mile marker location.

Why: did you witness the overturn or just drive up on the accident.

Also, If any EMT, PD or other professional first responders have anything to add please do.

ok I'll add my 2 cents. Just make sure you know what the heck your calling about . Ok ?

20 years on the job and with cell phones we go on more ass rides today then ever before.

"Car on fire on the side of the expressway" Yawn...... more times than not a over heated engine .

Smoke from the house.... drier vent ..

Man down on the side of the street. Guy napping....

Man slumped over wheel, bored guy waiting for girl to come out of house...

and on and on...

I don't know - here in NYC, for a car accident, telling the 911 operator "In the Borough of Queens, confines of XXX Pct, we've got a 53 with/without probable injuries, at the corner of XXX and YYY, 2 cars, Need/don't need tow" usually gets them to respond, and often gets me asked if I'm a MOS (Member of Service) - Somehow using the exact lingo they use tends to get your point across

Hum around here if one calls 911 a 100 times or uses "their lingo " a points coming across alright its, as my FDNY friends say a "buff" on the line again . Once they find out the caller is not on the job , everything said about injuries, tows etc. goes right out the window too.