They're transporting a UFO! Everyone panic!

"A saucer-shaped object on a very wide flatbed truck had some people wondering if the government was moving a UFO in or near Washington, D.C., Wednesday night...

"When motorists snapped photos of the strange object and posted them on Twitter, some people became concerned enough to call local police."

It was actually a military drone.

[Pet peeve: UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object. It's not (necessarily) an alien spacecraft. Even if this was one, it couldn't be a UFO because it wasn't flying!]

Unprepared

I was re-reading "The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes -- and Why and I saw a mention of DC CERT that I'd forgotten about. The author said she "signed up online to participate and never got a response." Yep, par for the course.

Then I read "Answering 911: Life in the Hot Seat," by a 911 operator/dispatcher in Minnesota. After a raid on a meth lab, a guy led officers on a foot chase, running through 3 houses, then taking an old man hostage. It wasn't known whether he had a gun. The operators were going crazy trying to keep up with the calls and dispatching for that -- plus a separate incident with an armed perp; a cop who hasn't answered calls and might be hurt or dead; and a choking baby.

"There was no way to remember it all and no way to type it. Her backup guy was busy paging the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)..."

Ridiculous EMS Calls

The Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) asked readers, "What's the funniest, wierdest, best, or worst call you've ever responded to?" Here are some responses:

• "I found out that the little boy had stuck Christmas lights up his nose. He and his brother wanted to see if they could see them blink."
• "We had one the other day for a woman who called 911 because her nipples were sore. (Maybe from the guy who called with chapped lips.)"
• "A buddy of mine got a 911 call for an unknown problem. Upon arriving on scene the patient was upset about lint, yes LINT, in their bellybutton."