We usually want to demonstrate great and skilled work in 911 as modeling. This call is provided to demonstrate work that is quite the opposite - an inexperienced and unskilled call-taker who should not have been on the console handling this type of call.

You will assess the work of the call-taker based on the Customer Service checklist; you can see many of the things that were not honored. This checklist is from a 9-1-1 center training.

In the Comments, please list 3 - 5 things demonstrating the call-taker's lack of skill or experience and how that impacted the caller's safety.

Here is what you should listen for:

• Call-taker repeats the same question regarding means of suicide and drinking – his questions aren’t to the point, so the caller answers in generalities, which then creates frustration when the call-taker asks again.

• The call-taker doesn’t ask for the phone number until the end of the call—what if they had gotten disconnected? (I’m assuming the address was asked at the beginning, and that section was redacted from the recording.)

• The caller's wife mentions the weapon (45), but the call-taker doesn’t ask where the gun is, ever. Is it on his person? Where is the caller now? 

• Call-taker's open mic communication to the dispatcher is unprofessional.  

• Never say, “Help is on the way.” It's okay to say, “Help has been started.”