Everyday Dialogues

Calling 911
In this lesson, you will practice using English
in an emergency situation. This lesson will help
prepare you in case you ever need to call an
emergency dispatcher in an English-speaking country.

Pre-Reading
A. Warm-Up Questions

1. Why might you need to call 911?

2. What questions do emergency dispatchers ask?

3. Why is it important to remain calm in an emergency situation?

B. Vocabulary Preview

Match the words on the left with the correct meanings on the right.

1. unconscious a) a medical professional who specializes in emergency response

2. ambulance b) not mentally or emotionally alert

c) to move around
3. pulse
d) cardiopulmonary resuscitation (trying to revive someone
4. CPR by pressing on the heart and/or breathing into the mouth)
5. circulate e) relaxed in mind and body, not stressed
6. calm f) an emergency vehicle

7. speakerphone g) the application of pressure

h) a hands-free feature for communicating on a phone
8. paramedic
i) the vibration of blood pumping through
9. heel of one’s hand the arteries (usually felt in the neck or wrist)
10. compression j) the bottom raised area of the palm

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 Calling 911
Everyday Dialogues

Dialogue Reading
Read the dialogue with your partner a few times. Take turns
being each character. Practice your intonation and pronunciation.
Circle any new words or phrases that you need to practice.

Dispatcher: 911. What’s your emergency?

Caller: My roommate isn’t breathing. I need help! Please send an ambulance.

Dispatcher: Okay. What is your address?

Caller: 22 Meredith Court, New Jersey.

Dispatcher: Please check for a pulse. Is your roommate unconscious?

Caller: Yes! Please hurry. I don’t know what happened to her.

Dispatcher: We have an emergency vehicle on the way. Please try to remain calm.

Caller: Okay. What should I do?

Dispatcher: Are you alone, or is there anyone with you?

Caller: We’re alone. I found her in the living room. She was just lying here.

Dispatcher: We need to start CPR. I will help you. Can you put me on speakerphone?

Caller: Okay. I don’t want to hurt her. I don’t know what I’m doing.

Listen carefully. You will not hurt her. I’m going to instruct you in hands-only CPR.
Dispatcher:
We need to keep the blood circulating until the paramedics arrive.

Caller: Okay. I already flipped her onto her back. Is that right?

Yes. Now put the heel of your hand in the center of her chest, and put your other hand
Dispatcher:
on top. Push hard and fast. We need deep chest compressions—about 100 per minute.

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 Calling 911
Everyday Dialogues

Practice
Work with your partner. Role-play the dialogue on page 2,
substituting the different expressions below. Then switch roles.

1. What’s your emergency? 5. Please try to remain calm.

• What’s the reason for your call? • I need you to calm down.
• How can I be of assistance? • Take some deep breaths.
• Do you have an emergency? • I need you to concentrate.

2. My roommate isn’t breathing. 6. We need to start CPR.

• My neighbor is unconscious. • We are going to try to resuscitate her.

• My teacher passed out. • We need to get the blood circulating.
• My child fainted. • We need to keep the blood flowing.
• We need to start chest compressions.
3. I need help!
7. I don’t know what I’m doing.
• This is an emergency!
• Send help quickly! • I don’t know how to do it.
• Please help me! • Can you walk me through it?
• Please tell me exactly what to do.
4. What is your address?
8. Listen carefully.
• Where are you calling from?
• What’s your location? • Listen to exactly what I say.
• Where are you right now? • Listen carefully to my instructions.
• I need you to stop talking/crying and listen.

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 Calling 911
Everyday Dialogues

Listening Practice
Listen to the recording of the dialogue from page 2. Fill in the missing
words as you listen. Listen again. Now look back at page 2 and check your
work. Did you fill in the correct words? Did you spell everything correctly?

Dispatcher: 911. What’s your             ?

Caller: My roommate isn’t breathing. I need help! Please send an             .

Dispatcher: Okay. What is your address?

Caller: 22 Meredith Court, New Jersey.

Dispatcher: Please check for a             . Is your roommate unconscious?

Caller: Yes! Please hurry. I don’t know what happened to her.

Dispatcher: We have an emergency vehicle on the way. Please try to             .

Caller: Okay. What should I do?

Dispatcher: Are you alone, or is there anyone with you?

Caller: We’re alone. I found her in the living room. She was just lying here.

We need to start             . I will help you.

Dispatcher:
Can you put me on             ?

Caller: Okay. I don’t want to hurt her. I don’t know what I’m doing.

Listen carefully. You will not hurt her. I’m going to instruct you in hands-only CPR.
Dispatcher:
We need to keep the blood             until the             arrive.

Caller: Okay. I already flipped her onto her back.                ?

Yes. Now put the heel of your hand in the center of her chest,
Dispatcher: and put your other hand on top. Push hard and fast. We need
deep chest            —about 100 per minute.

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 Calling 911
Everyday Dialogues

Write Your Own Dialogue

Write a dialogue with a partner using phrases from page 3.
One of you will be a 911 dispatcher, and the other must perform
hands-only CPR. Practice and present the dialogue to your class.

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 Calling 911
Everyday Dialogues

Review

Task 1

LISTEN & ANSWER

Listen to the conversation and answer the questions.

Your teacher will tell you if you have to write or say the answers.

1. How did the caller receive emergency assistance?

2. What did the dispatcher ask the caller to check for?

3. What procedure did the dispatcher give instructions for?

4. What is the caller worried about?

5. A
 ccording to the dispatcher, what is the main purpose
of the medical procedure that the caller has to perform?

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 Calling 911
Everyday Dialogues

Review cont.

Task 2

EMERGENCY OR NON-EMERGENCY?

911* and other numbers like it are for emergencies only. In an emergency,
a person’s health, safety, or property is at risk. A concern or crime that
is not an emergency can be directed to the local police. This number can
be found in a phone book or via a mobile device.

Listen to your teacher read eight one-line scenarios. Write “E” on the line
if the situation is an emergency that requires a call to 911. Write “N” if the
situation is not an emergency.

1. 3. 5. 7.

2. 4. 6. 8.

*Emergency Numbers Graffiti

If you are traveling to a Graffiti is illegal writing or
foreign country, find out drawing on a surface such
what the emergency number as a wall, fence, or park bench.
is before you go.

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 Calling 911
Everyday Dialogues

Answer Key
LESSON DESCRIPTION: LEVEL: Int – High Int

In this lesson, a person calls 911 in an emergency situation. TIME: 1.5 hours
The dispatcher sends help and instructs the caller how to
TAGS:  dialogues, emergency, 911, emergency dispatch,
perform simple CPR. Useful expressions are included.
medical, health, telephone, phone

Pre-Reading Review (Assessment Tasks)

A. WARM-UP QUESTIONS The following tasks can be used for assessment purposes
and/or review practice. You can save all of the tasks until the
Discuss as a class or in small groups. Answers will vary.
end or assess your students throughout the lesson.

B. VOCABULARY PREVIEW
TASK 1
1. b 3. i 5. c 7. h 9. j
Play the audio from this lesson. Then assign the questions. You
2. f 4. d 6. e 8. a 10. g
can decide if you want your students to say or write the answers.

Dialogue Reading 1. The caller phoned 911.

2. T he dispatcher asked the caller

Give your students time to read the dialogue in pairs. to check for her roommate’s pulse.
3. T he dispatcher explained how to give hands-only CPR.

Practice 4. T he caller is worried about hurting her roommate.

5. T he main purpose of CPR is to keep the blood
flowing until the emergency vehicle arrives.
Have your students read the dialogue again and
practice subbing in some of the different expressions.
(continued on the next page...)

Listening Practice

Have students complete the dialogue by listening

to the recording or by having two students read
the completed dialogue from page 2.

Write Your Own Dialogue

Encourage your students to use vocabulary from the model.

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 Calling 911
Everyday Dialogues

Answer Key cont.

Review (Assessment Tasks) cont.

TASK 2

Read the scenarios out loud. Students will write “E”

if they should call 911 because it is an emergency.
They will write “N” if the situation is not an emergency.

Scenarios

1. a theft occurred (there is no suspect on the scene)

2. neighbors are holding a loud party
3. gunshots are heard in a nearby park
4. a drunk driver just drove away
5. there is graffiti on your fence
6. a child fell off a bicycle and hit his head
7. an elderly man fell down the stairs
8. you witnessed a bad car accident on the highway

Answers

1. N 3. E 5. N 7. E
2. N 4. E 6. E 8. E

As a follow-up task, discuss what can be done

instead of calling 911 for the non-emergencies.

SPELLING NOTE:

This lesson shows the American spelling of the words

Center, Neighbor, Traveling, and Practice. Most other English-
speaking countries spell these words this way: Centre, Neighbour,
Travelling, and Practise (when used as a verb; Practice when used
as a noun). Make it a challenge for your students to find these
words in the lesson and see if they know the alternate spellings.

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 Calling 911
Everyday Dialogues

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