Protestors Block Autopista
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Ticos Can't
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Ticos Can't
To Give Proper Directions
It was 11am Saturday morning. The 911
emergency service receives a call for an
emergency of an overturned vehicle with two
passengers trapped inside. The caller tells
the operator the location of the accident,
500 metres north of the Juan Pablo II bridge
on the autopista General Cañas.
When emergency crews get to the location,
there as no accident. No overturned vehicle.
A new call comes in minuets later telling
the 911 operator of a similar accident, but
this time near the San Joaquin de Flores
bridge crossing on the General Cañas.
Again, emergency crews were dispatched and
found no accident at the given location.
A third call, presumed by the same person,
that the accident is not near the Juan Pablo
II bridge, nort the San Joaquin de Flores
crossing, but rather near the INTEL
intersection of the General Cañas.
Finally, the direction given on the third
call was correct. But, the vehicle was not
overturned and no on was trapped in the
vehicle, but rather one single person with
cuts and bruises from the vehicle leaving
the road.
Responding to the calls were 2 special
response units called "soporte avanzado"
that carries paramedics, from San Jose, one
ambulance from Alajuela, 2 rescue units by
the fire department, equipped with the jaws
of life, the Policía Turistica (tourism
police), the Fuerza Pública (regular police)
and the Policía de Tránsito.
The cost of responding to the emergency is
enormous and all for providing the wrong
location and severity of the accident.
Cruz Roja officials say that this is not an
isolated case, as many times the callers
cannot provide an exact address or location
of the emergency, costing the money and more
important putting lives in danger.
As to Saturday's accident, fortunately there
injuries sustained by the driver were minor
and there were no other emergencies while
emergency response units were running around
looking for the reported accident.
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