30 most vicious John Oliver take downs

21. The problem with the 911 emergency call service

Let’s first clarify that there is nothing at all wrong with 911, or the very concept of an emergency call service. Countless lives have been saved thanks to the system, and it has become a necessary part of our culture. Problems with the service have nothing to do with 911 itself, only the understaffed stations outdated technology at many locations which hinder its effectiveness.

John Oliver brought this up on Last Week Tonight to ask some intriguing questions about 911. For example, why is it that 911 operators have such trouble locating callers using a cell phone, but the Domino’s Pizza app doesn’t seem to have a problem? Being short on staff with ancient technology is “fine if you’re describing a Radio Shack, but is a little scary if you’re calling a place that handles emergency situations,” as Oliver put it.

Bringing in Rob Riggle for a spoof PSA, Oliver further poked fun at just how silly it is that our professional emergency service system has such problems. We’re talking about the difference between life and death, so maybe maintaining 911 should be just a little bit higher on our list of priorities. Why can a pizza guy find a missing child faster than emergency responders?

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