Dial 999 for spider in bed and other non-emergencies

Beyond belief, some people!

 

I'm terrified of spiders ....they always end up in my bed for some reason but I wouldn't go that far!! Total stupidity.

 

I expect they've thought about it, probably don't want to put folk off making genuine calls. Imagine a few minutes hesitation in a life or death situation.

 

We do seem to have more than our fair share in the UK !

 

I googled that, wish I hadn't

 

Interesting point: it could boil down to simple perception coupled with ... having no one else to call/turn to e.g. being alone?

Of course there are also those, who are a few fries short of a Happy Meal, who make seemingly "genuine" calls which turn out fake, which is equally time consuming, expensive and exasperating for call control and the emergency service personnel responding.

I think it would make an interesting study. Is one gender/age/background less or more likely to turn to the 999 system when they need assistance when it isn't actually an emergency (to our mind), but constitutes an "emergency" in their opinion?

We all know the fire brigade have 'rescued' cats out of trees, so to the callers of spiders/bats/squirrels, they may not see that as being any less of an emergency? (I'm guessing, because I have no idea what their train of thought may have been).

 

Flesh eating spiders made the front page of one of today's 'newspapers'

 

There's people being hospitalised by those spider http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/344380/Flesh-eating-spiders-coming-to-a-house-near-you-

 

I think you can be terrified of something like a spider but still understand it's not a good idea to ring 999. I can't understand why they just don't flatten it with a newspaper or something else. I hate doing this but if there's no one in the house to capture it then so be it. I understand that some people are that scared of them that they're frozen to the spot when they see one. This has happened to me in the past and I slept on the sofa because it was on my bed. Totally irrational of course because during the night it probably came down the stairs and into the living room where I was sleeping. I slept there for 2 weeks and wouldn't sleep in the bedroom - still didn't ring 999 though