Across the vast majority of the United States, calling 911 when facing what a caller deems an emergency is the best bet for getting immediate assistance. Systems are set up to direct callers to the appropriate response team, and representatives of systems in Tulsa and OKC both say that when in doubt about whether something is a true emergency, don’t hesitate – call 911.
Emergency calls to enhanced 911 systems in these two metros trigger responses tailored to whatever the situation dictates, once the dispatcher determines what type of assistance is needed.
“Anything that requires immediate action, people should call 911,” says Andre Baul of the Tulsa Police Department’s communications unit.
The operator will ask what kind of emergency the caller is experiencing. If the situation is not a true emergency that requires immediate action, the caller will be directed to hang up and call the non-emergency number, 918-596-9222, Baul says.
Josh Miller, assistant Oklahoma City 911 director, says that when a 911 call comes in, the first thing that happens is an attempt to identify the nature of the call. Call-takers are trained to determine what he terms the “five W’s” – who’s calling, where are they calling from, what’s happened or is happening, when it happened or if it’s happening now, and whether or not weapons are/were involved.
“If we have that,” he said, “we can send help.”
While a lot of information populates on the dispatcher’s screen, exact location doesn’t. A location or address is immensely helpful.
Miller says that in addition to 911, Oklahoma City maintains a 10-digit number (405-231-2121) for emergencies when the caller is outside the city limits. The line is incorrectly referred to as a nonemergency line. The line is for emergencies, but offers the ability for someone outside the city to contact police.
“If someone calls on the 10-digit line for whatever reason, we process the calls the same way,” he says.
Baul mentions that Tulsa promotes “Call 311” for types of municipal assistance that don’t require a police, fire or ambulance response, such as trash pickup, code enforcement or other city services. Oklahoma City urges its residents to use the city’s Action Center, which handles most types of city services or issues.
Additionally, Tulsa has a mental health hotline: 988. Once dialed, you’ll be connected to a crisis specialist to talk you through the issue and get the resources you need for either yourself or your loved one. Last year, OKC launched a program for handling mental and behavioral health-related calls too, as part of its Crisis Call Diversion program. Mobile Integrated Healthcare oversees four units that serve crisis and alternative response functions. Its trained, licensed mental health professionals can respond to behavioral and mental health-related calls and it is directly embedded into the 911 dispatch center. During its first 10 months of operation, its Mobile Integrated Healthcare Crisis Response Team and Alternative Response Team responded to more than 5,000 such calls.
“These numbers validate the theory we were acting upon – that the nature of emergency calls was evolving and that our response needed to evolve as well,” Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt says. “With the creation of this unit, these calls have received a more appropriate response, and those responses have been accomplished professionally and without incidents.”
For Tulsa
Emergency:
911
Police non-emergency:
918-596-9222
Non-emergency, in city:
311
Outside the city:
918-596-2100
Mental health emergency:
988
For OKC:
Emergency in city:
911
Emergency, outside city:
405-231-2121
Action Center:
405-297-2535
