Trapped girls update status on facebook instead of calling emergency services

[Drew]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/07/2678945.htm




Trapped girls call for help on Facebook

Two girls lost in a stormwater drain raised the alert on a social networking site rather than ringing triple-0.

The Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS) in Adelaide says it is worrying that two girls lost in a stormwater drain raised the alert on a social networking site rather than ringing triple-0.

The 10- and 12-year-old girls updated a Facebook status to say they were lost in a drain on Honeypot Road at Hackham in Adelaide's southern suburbs on Sunday night.

Glenn Benham from the MFS says it was fortunate a young friend was online at the time and was able to call for help for them.

"It is a worry for us because it causes a delay on us being able to rescue the girls," he said.

"If they were able to access Facebook from their mobile phones, they could have called 000, so the point being they could have called us directly and we could have got there quicker than relying on someone being online and replying to them and eventually having to call us via 000 anyway."


I can see it now: Britney is stuck in a drain pipe! :( omg its dark in here

[Numbers]

How very Darwinian.

[Drisco]

000? I always thought it was 911 everywhere.

[Latrinsorm]

000? I always thought it was 911 everywhere.Only in America and America Jr., it turns out.

Also, who says they didn't try to "ring 000" first? You guys remember the story about the kid who called 911 and got told to stfu?

[Drew]

000? I always thought it was 911 everywhere.

Nah, 911 is NA and the Caribbean, in England it's 999, that's pretty common. Europe is mostly 112 I think. In South Africa it was the ever so easy to remember 10111

[Drew]

Only in America and America Jr., it turns out.

Also, who says they didn't try to "ring 000" first? You guys remember the story about the kid who called 911 and got told to stfu?

I read another news article where the person got trapped in a forest by a rock or something and they weren't able to dial but they got a text signal eventually because the carrier sent texts on a different frequencies.

[Victor Mancini]

In Japan it's 119.

[CrystalTears]

But their efforts worked, as oddball as it may be.

[Mabus]

In Japan it's 119.
In Soviet Russia 911 calls you!

[Tsa`ah]

How very Darwinian.

Well ... no they lived.

[Daniel]

In Soviet Russia 911 calls you!

lol

[Geshron]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/07/2678945.htm




I can see it now: Britney is stuck in a drain pipe! :( omg its dark in here

lol you beat me to the OMG. Hilarious story, stupid kids.

[AnticorRifling]

The fire dept should have said sorry they didn't have us "friended" or whatever the fuck it is.

[B2]

I was wondering about this when I read about the girl who texted her friends during an attack last week. First off, how does the attacker not realize what she's doing? It's like those texts from last night that are talking about things mid-coitus. Really? REALLY?

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/20711582/detail.html

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- A Gwinnett County teenager said a text message may have saved her life while she was being sexually assaulted.

The victim told police that she sent a text message to her friends to alert them that she was being assaulted near her home.

“She was able to text her friends that this person had taken her against her will and that they were at a certain location,” said Cpl. David Schiralli with the Gwinnett County Police Department.

On Tuesday, police arrested Jose Hernandez-Ruiz, 19, in connection with the crime and charged him with kidnapping and sexual battery.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Manuel Bojorquez visited the Countryside Village of Gwinnett in Buford where the girl said the incident happened Aug. 20.

According to a police report, the 16-year-old victim told authorities that a man she knew only by his first name got out of a car, grabbed her neck and pushed her toward the woods near her home. During the assault, the girl realized that the only weapon she had was her cell phone.

Schiralli said when the victim’s friends showed up, the man took off and police started working leads on the attacker.

“Through information investigators learned, they were able to get a name, an address of the suspect and were able to arrest him and charge him accordingly,” said Schiralli.

Police said the victim was not physically hurt, but emotionally upset.
Jose Hernandez-Ruiz remained in the Gwinnett County Jail Thursday.

[The Ponzzz]

The only thing I can think of is the no speaking bit helps. Perhaps 911 should set up a way to receive emergency text messages.

[CrystalTears]

The only thing I can think of is the no speaking bit helps. Perhaps 911 should set up a way to receive emergency text messages.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking of too. Considering how fast some people can text, she probably was able to do it faster and way quieter than calling for help.