911 Operator Test Emergency Call Prioritization 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A caller reports smoke coming from a neighbor's apartment but sees no flames and does not know if anyone is inside. What is the correct priority?
- Low — no visible flame means no confirmed fire
- Moderate — send units when fire resources are free
- High — potential structure fire with possible occupants requires immediate response (Correct answer)
- Non-emergency — advise caller to knock on the neighbor's door first
Correct answer: High — potential structure fire with possible occupants requires immediate response
Smoke inside a building is treated as an active fire until proven otherwise; immediate fire department dispatch is required due to potential occupants.
Question 2: Which scenario represents the correct use of a 'priority hold' in emergency dispatch?
- Placing a caller on hold because the dispatcher is on a personal call
- Temporarily holding a low-priority call so a dispatcher can concentrate on an active life-threat call (Correct answer)
- Transferring a high-priority call to another center during peak hours
- Holding all calls during shift change to prevent overlap
Correct answer: Temporarily holding a low-priority call so a dispatcher can concentrate on an active life-threat call
A priority hold is a legitimate protocol that allows a dispatcher to focus on an active life-threat while briefly pausing a lower-priority caller.
Question 3: A caller reports a drowning in progress at a public pool. Which resource should the dispatcher NOT send as the primary unit?
- EMS
- Fire department with water rescue capability
- Police for scene control
- Animal control (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Animal control
Animal control has no role in a drowning response; fire water rescue, EMS, and police are the appropriate agencies for this life-safety emergency.
Question 4: A caller reports a hit-and-run collision; the victim is lying in the road and traffic is still moving. What simultaneous actions should the dispatcher take?
- Send police only to document the hit-and-run
- Dispatch EMS and police simultaneously and advise the caller to warn approaching drivers if safe to do so (Correct answer)
- Wait for a witness to confirm injuries before dispatching
- Send a tow truck first to remove the vehicle hazard
Correct answer: Dispatch EMS and police simultaneously and advise the caller to warn approaching drivers if safe to do so
A victim in an active roadway faces both medical emergency and ongoing vehicle hazard, requiring immediate simultaneous EMS and police dispatch.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes the 'life safety' tier in a three-tier priority dispatch model?
- Calls involving property damage only
- Calls where a human life is in immediate danger and every second counts (Correct answer)
- Calls that are important but can wait up to 30 minutes for a response
- Calls from repeat or known frequent callers
Correct answer: Calls where a human life is in immediate danger and every second counts
The life-safety tier encompasses any incident where a person's life is in immediate peril, mandating the fastest possible unit response.
Question 6: A caller reports that an aggressive dog bit a child and the dog is still loose. What determines whether this is dispatched as Priority 1?
- The breed of the dog
- The severity of the child's injuries and ongoing threat to other people (Correct answer)
- Whether the dog owner is present
- The time of day the incident occurred
Correct answer: The severity of the child's injuries and ongoing threat to other people
A child with bite injuries combined with an at-large aggressive animal represents both an active medical emergency and an ongoing public safety threat, warranting Priority 1.
Question 7: An off-duty officer calls 911 to report an in-progress armed robbery at a convenience store. How should this call be prioritized compared to a civilian reporting the same incident?
- Lower priority — the officer is not on duty and lacks authority
- Same priority — the incident type, not the caller's identity, determines priority (Correct answer)
- Higher priority automatically — all law enforcement calls are Priority 1
- Transferred to the officer's department's non-emergency line
Correct answer: Same priority — the incident type, not the caller's identity, determines priority
Dispatch priority is determined by the nature of the incident; an armed robbery in progress is Priority 1 regardless of whether the reporting party is a civilian or off-duty officer.
911 Operator Test Emergency Call Prioritization 5
A caller reports smoke coming from a neighbor's apartment but sees no flames and does not know if anyone is inside.
What is the correct priority?