ABSTRACT

Innocent 911 callers seeking medical help communicated Sensory Details about the victims’ conditions to ensure that appropriate aid would be dispatched. Through descriptions of sight, sound, smell, and touch (taste was not described in any of the 911 study calls), callers painted verbal pictures so dispatchers could clearly comprehend the nature of the emergency. Descriptions with Sensory Details also enabled dispatchers to aid the callers in stabilizing victims until help arrived. In contrast, many guilty callers equivocated instead of providing details. They offered vague comments that confused dispatchers and delayed proper medical response.