Turns out my phone has a special Emergency Mode. When you dial 911, it won't let you dial any other numbers until you enter the phone's password.

I was riding the campus shuttle bus home from class. We were about to take a left turn, just before entering my apartment complex. The car in front of us took that left, only to get clipped by a school bus that ran the red light! It's cold as hell outside, but I have first aid training, and I have been heavily conditioned to deal with emergencies personally. So I asked my bus driver to let me out right there, I dropped my satchel on the sidewalk, and took charge of the situation.

The bus had cleared the intersection and pulled over to the side of the road. The car was stalled in the middle of the intersection. The driver was unhurt, but kind of shocky, and not a native English speaker; under the stress she was not communicating well. I went to the bus to see if anyone needed medical aid. The driver politely told me that, as none of the students seemed in immidiate danger, civilians like me were absolutely not permitted onboard. I'm confident that such is SOP, so I didn't argue.

With no one needing emergency medical aid, I called 911. My phone predates E911 localization, so the first words out of the answer's mouth was "Town and location of your emergency?" I told him, and he immediatly said "School bus accident?" Looking back on it, not only were there plenty of people in cars with phones (while I was freezing outside), the bus had its own radio.

The struck car was still sitting in the intersection, and people were starting to try to edge their cars around it. That seemed unsafe. So I pushed her car out of the way, which sucked, as I think it was still in gear. About the time I got it out of traffic, the first campus police car arrived. I reported, left, and here I am at home, trying to warm up. My heart rate is a little elevated, too, so I've still got some adrenaline going.

Posted by: Boviate at 03:27 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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