After-Hours Triage Checklist

Before I promise anything

• Get the address first. You cannot judge urgency without knowing where they are.
• Ask what's happening in their own words before asking any yes or no question. The first sentence tells you more than five questions will.
• Write down the callback number even if you think you'll remember it. You won't, and neither will I on a bad night.
• Never say "I'll have someone call you back" without a timeframe attached to it. "Within the hour" is a promise. "Back to you" is not.

The four questions that sort urgent from tomorrow

• Is anyone in danger right now: gas smell, active flooding, exposed wiring, no heat with kids or elderly in the house? That's tonight.
• Is the damage getting worse the longer it sits, or is it stable? Stable can wait for morning even if it's uncomfortable.
• Is there something they can do themselves in the next ten minutes: a shutoff valve, a breaker, a towel and a bucket? Tell them now, before you hang up.
• Would they pay an emergency rate to have it fixed tonight, or are they hoping it's free? Ask this directly. It changes the conversation.

What I say before I hang up

• Confirm what happens next in one sentence: who, when, and what it costs if it's after hours.
• Repeat the address and the phone number back to them. It catches transposed digits and it tells them you were listening.
• If it can wait, say so plainly and give them the first real slot you have, not "we'll fit you in."

None of this needs software. It needs the same four questions in the same order every time, so the answer doesn't depend on whether it's the owner or a nephew who picked up.