A quick-thinking Ohio woman was praised after she potentially saved the life of her mom with a surprising 911 call.
As reported by News4Jax, a then-38-year-old Tiffany Urban became concerned when her mom's boyfriend was at her family's apartment in Oregon, Ohio, back in 2019.
Police heard how an argument turned violent, with Urban accusing Simon Lopez - who was 56 at the time of the incident - of repeatedly punching her mom in the arm, causing her to fall.
After witnessing the alleged attack, Urban knew she had to act fast, but also had to act smart in order to protect her loved ones.
Therefore, she dialed 911 and told dispatcher Tim Teneyck that she wanted a pizza.
Listen to the call in the video below:Understandably Thrown off by the request of a pizza, Teneyck initially told Urban that she had dialed the wrong number to order a pizza.
But after Urban told him he wasn't understanding, Teneyck quickly caught on and realized the danger of the situation. A transcript of the conversation can be seen below:
Teneyck: Oregon 911.
Urban: I would like to order a pizza at [address redacted].
Teneyck: You called 911 to order a pizza?
Urban: Uh, yeah. Apartment [redacted].
Teneyck: This is the wrong number to call for a pizza...
Urban: No, no, no. You're not understanding.
Teneyck: I'm getting you now. Is the other guy still there?
Urban: Yep, I need a large pizza.
Teneyck: All right. How about medical, do you need medical?
Urban: No. With pepperoni.
Speaking to ABC13, the dispatcher revealed he had never been trained for a situation like this one, saying: "You see it on Facebook, but it's not something that anybody has ever been trained for. Other dispatchers that I've talked to would not have picked up on this. They've told me they wouldn't have picked up on this."
Teneyck requested that cops attending to the scene turn off their sirens before arriving at the apartment to avoid suspicion and risk escalating the situation.
Oregon Chief of Police Michael Navarre also praised Teneyck's response to the bizarre call, saying, per the Daily Mail: "Excellent dispatch work on the part of our dispatcher. Some dispatchers may have hung up.
"He handled the call beautifully and it had a happy ending."
According to a police report obtained by The Toledo Blade, when police arrived at the apartment, they took Simon Lopez, 56, into custody on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge.
Sadly, just three weeks after making the call, Urban passed away after suffering from cardiac arrest.
Her family said at the time that they hope she is remembered for her heroic actions that night.
"It was a shining moment because that just kind of shows what kind of a person Tiffany was, that no matter what she's going to be there for her family," her brother told NBC24. "She stands strong for her family and family comes first to her."
And despite Urban's tactic working at the time, authorities have warned others about adopting similar tactics in the future.
Andrea Tobin, communications shift supervisor at Willamette Valley Communications Center, told Salem Heath that "each situation is handled differently for the safety of the caller and the responders."
"If we only know the caller ‘needs a pizza delivery’ — we don’t know if they are in a domestic violence situation, a burglar is in the house, or any number of other situations," Tobin warned. "We may filter a pizza call as a prank if the caller is not clear that an emergency exists."
April Heinze, 911 operations director for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) echoed these comments, telling CNN: "There’s over 6,000 911 call centers in the United States. If we used one special code or even a few code words, to get that word out to the public, then all the bad guys would also know."
Heinze says that if you are unable to speak freely to a dispatcher, you should be creative, remain persistent, or even text 911 if you can.
Nevertheless, there's no doubt that Urban's actions that evening deserve to be praised, and she should always be remembered for helping her family.
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