Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My hell as a 911 operator

nypost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 241 posts

Re: My hell as a 911 operator

#111

Post by crististm »

moocowduckquack wrote: post #81
300bps wrote: post #30

Holy hyperbole. Definitely seems like this worker is frustrated beyond sense or has an agenda with saying things like: They give rookie operators two months training, and after that just throw ’em in. They’re not ready. Two months training is not enough training? This is implausible. At its core, they're answering the phone, determining the reason for a call and typing information from the call into a computer. They'…

Don't be ridiculous. From that kind of perspective writing software is just typing. Say, did you hire the programming team that wrote the software they are using?

some managers seem to believe exactly this

Re: My hell as a 911 operator

#112

Post by slashCJ »

It would be fun to have hackathon to design a better 911 system - I'd bet 24 hours worth of work would produce some amazing stuff (probably not super-ultra reliable production ready, but some cool stuff that could save lives)

Re: My hell as a 911 operator

#113

Post by briandear »

ams6110 wrote: post #82
readme wrote: post #50

looks like someone needs 911.io -- replacement emergency 911 system using mongodb, node.js, and twitter bootstrap. ultra reliable, super scalable

Fad technologies do not a reliable, scalable system make.

So apparently the existing legacy technologies make reliable and scalable systems? A 'fad' technology that works is better than old technology that doesn't.

Re: My hell as a 911 operator

#115

Post by gregd »

doorhammer wrote: post #85
gregd wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"but almost every project I've seen had kept on trucking to meet an arbitrary deadline regardless of how poorly any of the testing goes, then the system hits the floor" And the reason for this is simple..the one person who can pull the plug on a project of this magnitude, won't. Simply because s/he doesn't want to have to answer to having already dropped 88 million with nothing to show for it. There becomes a single…

Totally agree. Even in projects at work, the worst possible thing people think they could do is admit that something they're working on doesn't work the right the first time. I will say, though, that in the case of most projects I've worked on that are failing at some point, we do have something to show for it. We just have things that need to be fixed. Even a totally failed try is something you know doesn't work. It…

"My boss is comfortable saying "this didn't work, that's fine, let's figure out why it didn't work and make something that does.""

The taxpayer is much less forgiving about "failures" and tend to trot out pitchforks and torches at the drop of a hat. They're much more guided by perception than actual facts. So for them, there's very little room for a distinction to be made between utter failure, failure, almost failure, not quite a failure, maybe a failure, no failure...

Re: My hell as a 911 operator

#116

Post by ams6110 »

ampersandy wrote: post #100
joyeuse6701 wrote: post #20

A lot of posts here talk about open source projects or the relative simplicity of implementing something like this at it's core: I agree with the idea though I understand that emergency systems require a high level of reliability similar to mil-spec hardware I imagine. If there was any justification for that price of 88+ mil, that would be it. Looks like that went right out the damn window. All systems have bugs, I t…

I recently attended a lecture about developing shutdown software for a nuclear power plant. The development process involved three key stages: Formal Requirements Documents, a Software Design Document, and finally, Coding. Each step in the process is accompanied by formal verification processes and an audit which produces a Hazard Analysis Report. Code also goes through code review and verification. I wonder if Inter…

I think that mil-spec or nuclear QC standards are probably overkill for civilian systems such as 911. Granted there should be some high standards in place, but the systems are a) not secret/classified and b) not as high liability. Yes, failure to handle a 911 call is serious problem, but not like a failed nuclear reactor shutdown in terms of cost, number of people affected, and as a last resort, ability to fall back to a paper-and-pen backup system.

Re: My hell as a 911 operator

#117

Post by jowiar »

I am tired of HN (and the rest of the country) taking shots at government employees. They're talented. They work hard. They take pride in their work. They do a damn good job. If you look at any good technology product that's come out of government, it's almost always been a creation of federal employees: CFPB. Data.gov. Healthcare.gov. Some neat things coming out of the OPM. Accumulo.

There are Github repositories:

  https://github.com/GSA

  https://github.com/GSA-OCSIT

  https://github.com/cfpb

  https://github.com/opengovplatform
To quote Deputy CIO of CFPB Matthew Burton:

    Got two out-of-the-blue emails today asking 
    "who is behind http://CFPB.gov's great graphic design."
    I'm proud to say: civil servants" [1]
On the other hand, feel free to tear apart the contracting system all you want. The system of "who can check all the boxes for the lowest price" is an unmitigated train wreck. It basically mandates a waterfall-designed usability disaster. The sooner we can tear apart that system, the better (and I say that as someone who has spent a majority of my career as a government contractor).

[1]: https://twitter.com/matthewburton/status/359747466339418113

Re: My hell as a 911 operator

#118

Post by briandear »

VMG wrote: post #96
ErikAugust wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least they have been keeping their website's copyright up to date: " © Copyright "

Why does website quality always seem to correlate so strongly with the company it's representing?

Funny how that works! A company that can't even get a website right probably has a few things wrong. First it's likely they take their customers for granted and don't care. However, it's likely the guys at the top actually think they have a good website. Companies like that make every decision by committee and as long as the boxes are checked, the 'product' works.

Re: My hell as a 911 operator

#119

Post by blackprawn »

So let me get this straight:

You (and I) truly believe that the telcos have proof positive location on our landlines and cells, and this data is collected whole hog by the govt, but BUT somehow they cant locate a caller having a heart attack on long island.

You know, the govt has the systems it deserves, and I really dont care to hear whining about pencil and paper.

It takes no longer to write down on pencil and paper a 911 call and theres a mandatory handoff anyway.

This has nothing to do with the folks working the phones not being up to par. They are. It has everything to do with big telcos and govt contractors holding taxpayers hostage.

We dont need them. Use the pencil and paper, make a phone call to the next dept. That takes the same amount of time as data entry.

Grow up, be a human being and stop pretending that life and death situations are some variant of farmville.

Re: My hell as a 911 operator

#120

Post by jrockway »

300bps wrote: post #30

Holy hyperbole. Definitely seems like this worker is frustrated beyond sense or has an agenda with saying things like: They give rookie operators two months training, and after that just throw ’em in. They’re not ready. Two months training is not enough training? This is implausible. At its core, they're answering the phone, determining the reason for a call and typing information from the call into a computer. They'…

It's a tabloid, what do you expect?
Post reply on HN