Lifestyle

911 Operator Sends Help To Teen After Using Secret Code

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Tony Maples Photography

 

When a 15-year-old girl named Doyin heard intruders break into her home while she was by herself, she quickly ran upstairs to hide in her parents closet. Luckily, she had her cell phone with her, so she called a 911 operator.

Angie Rivera, a 12-year veteran police dispatcher, answered and kept Doyin as calm as possible. “He’s inside the house,” she told Rivera in the call recording played on ABC News. Soon after, Rivera could hear that one of the intruders was in the room with Doyin. “Don’t talk,” she quickly said. Then she told Doyin to communicate with a code.

Rivera kept asking Doyin questions to occupy her mind and keep her calm and quiet to not alert the intruders that she was hiding. She simply told Doyin to tap the phone receiver for “yes” and “no” answers.

It didn’t need to be some sort of sophisticated secret code. It was a simple and smart trick, and that kind of quick-thinking is what makes 911 operators shine. LittleThings.com notes that Rivera said she went into mom-mode when she was talking to the girl, and instinctively wanted to keep her feeling as secure as she could while she went through a terrifying ordeal.

When the police came, Rivera passed the torch to them to keep Doyin safe.