911 Operator Test Call Prioritization and Decision-Making 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A caller asks you to send police to a non-emergency situation but is very insistent and emotional. The correct response is to:
- Immediately dispatch officers to avoid upsetting the caller
- Acknowledge the caller's concern and assign appropriate priority based on the facts, not emotions (Correct answer)
- Transfer the call to a supervisor to avoid conflict
- Disconnect the call if the caller becomes too emotional
Correct answer: Acknowledge the caller's concern and assign appropriate priority based on the facts, not emotions
Priority must be based on the objective nature of the incident, not on caller emotional pressure.
Question 2: Which situation represents a PRIORITY 1 (immediate life-threatening) call?
- Abandoned vehicle on a residential street
- Person not breathing and unresponsive (Correct answer)
- Noise complaint from a neighbor
- Lost wallet reported at a park
Correct answer: Person not breathing and unresponsive
An unresponsive person who is not breathing is a cardiac or respiratory emergency requiring immediate Priority 1 EMS response.
Question 3: A school reports a suspicious package left unattended. While assessing the call, you should:
- Ask the school staff to move the package to a safer area
- Dispatch police and advise the school not to touch or move the package (Correct answer)
- Treat it as low priority since most such reports turn out to be harmless
- Transfer the call to the bomb squad hotline without dispatching police
Correct answer: Dispatch police and advise the school not to touch or move the package
Unattended suspicious packages at schools require immediate police response and staff should be advised not to handle the package until it is cleared.
Question 4: A caller reports a child locked in a hot car on a summer day. This call should be categorized as:
- Low priority — parents are likely nearby
- High priority — heat-related emergencies for children are life-threatening (Correct answer)
- Medium priority — dispatch when available
- Non-emergency — refer to a parking authority
Correct answer: High priority — heat-related emergencies for children are life-threatening
A child trapped in a hot vehicle faces rapid onset of heat stroke and death, making this a high-priority life-safety emergency.
Question 5: What is the role of pre-arrival instructions in the call prioritization process?
- They replace the need to dispatch units to the scene
- They provide immediate guidance to callers while units respond, potentially saving lives (Correct answer)
- They are only used for non-emergency calls
- They are recorded for training purposes only and not shared with callers
Correct answer: They provide immediate guidance to callers while units respond, potentially saving lives
Pre-arrival instructions guide callers through actions like CPR or controlling bleeding while responders are en route, bridging the gap until help arrives.
Question 6: Two callers report the same incident from different perspectives — one says it is a fight, the other says it is a shooting. Which account should drive the priority?
- The first caller's account since they called first
- The more serious account (shooting) until units confirm otherwise (Correct answer)
- Average the two accounts and assign a medium priority
- Wait for a third caller to break the tie
Correct answer: The more serious account (shooting) until units confirm otherwise
When conflicting reports differ in severity, the more dangerous scenario must drive the priority to protect lives and officer safety.
Question 7: A frequent caller known for making false reports calls in about a fire. How should the dispatcher handle this?
- Ignore the call based on the caller's history
- Dispatch units as required — all calls must be verified regardless of caller history (Correct answer)
- Assign a lower priority since the caller is known to be unreliable
- Ask the caller to send a photo before dispatching
Correct answer: Dispatch units as required — all calls must be verified regardless of caller history
Even frequent false callers must have their calls dispatched for verification; dismissing a call based on history could result in a real emergency going unanswered.
911 Operator Test Call Prioritization and Decision-Making 5
A caller asks you to send police to a non-emergency situation but is very insistent and emotional.
The correct response is to: