Local emergency dispatchers have received more than 700 calls to 911 that were dropped, misdialed, or hung up with no emergency reported or located so far this year.
Those are just the calls coming from The Blue Mountains and Collingwood area.
According to Constable Martin Hachey, spokesperson for the Collingwood OPP, there were 1,385 such calls last year and 707 so far this year.
According to a press release issued by the OPP, these false 911 calls are, largely, made up of pocket dials, where a cell phone or smartwatch makes a 911 call without the user intending to.
“For every unintentional call or pocket dial received, an emergency communicator must determine whether a real emergency exists and if police, fire or paramedics should be dispatched,” states the release. “With every unintentional call received, precious seconds may be taken away from someone who really needs help.”
In fact, according to material put out by the OPP, police are dispatched every time someone calls 911 and hangs up, or calls and does not respond to the dispatcher.
The OPP have offered some tips or rules to follow if an accidental 911 call is dialed.
First and foremost, say OPP, remain on the line to let the emergency operator know it was an unintentional call and there is no emergency.
Often, if a call is made to 911 and the caller does not respond, emergency responders have to take that as a possible sign of trouble and officers must be dispatched to confirm there is no emergency.
In order to avoid pocket dials, police recommend locking your phone keypad and/or buying a phone case that covers the screen to prevent contact with the touch screen.
Police also caution against programming wireless phones and landlines to speed dial 911.
Finally, you can avoid your smart watch dialing 911 by ensuring the auto call feature is turned off.
Remember, a mobile phone can successfully make a 911 call even if it is deactivated and no longer has a SIM card.
