Don't Do The Butt-Dial

Accidental 9-1-1 calls happen on a daily basis, a lot...like 20 times...on a slow day. Sometimes it's a child playing with a phone, sometimes it's a misdial. More and more these days though 9-1-1 has become the victim of the "butt-dial", "pocket-dial" or "purse-dial" for the ladies. It's an innocent mistake with costly consequences. You toss your cell phone into your pocket or purse and go on your daily business. That innocent little cell phone bounces around and before you know it the keys 9-1-1 have been hit! According to a recent article written on TheBlaze.com- one Illinois town estimates that 20% of their 9-1-1 phones calls are accidental ones such as the "butt-dial".

When that call comes into our dispatchers and know one is there, we have to assume the worst. Protocol says if we can't get you to talk to us, we hang up and call back. If we're fortunate, you'll answer and tell us it was an accident and that your fine. Many times when we call back no one answers, so we send a police officer to make sure you're safe. In this case, your "butt-dial" has tied up a dispatcher who could be answering actual emergencies and a police officer who could be responding to other emergencies.

So the moral of the story is lock those phone keys before you put that phone away! We'd greatly appreciate it!

And while we're on the topic of accidental 9-1-1 cell phone calls, lets talk old out of service cell phones. Kids love phones and parents love to make their kids happy. So when mom or dad gets a new cell phone, they often take their old phone and give it to the kids to play with. While you may have deactivated that phone with the phone company,that phone is still 100% capable of calling 9-1-1 (it's a built in safety feature). So many times, that phone still has a little battery power left to it, or you may even let your child charge it so that can see all of the bells and whistles of that phone and I am sure you can guess where we're am going with this...the kids accidentally dial 9-1-1 and the process begins. If you give your kids old cell phones, take the battery out to avoid this accidental call!

We understand accidents happen, but with a few preventative steps we can reduce the number of accidental 9-1-1 phone calls. If you do accidentally call 9-1-1, stay on the line and tell the dispatcher it was an accident. If your phone is hung up before we can find out if your safe, answer when we call back to check on you!

Lock those keys, remove batteries from those old phones and stay safe out there!