Victoria police say there were more than 7,300 abandoned 911 calls in 2017. Photo courtesy CBC.
If you accidentally call 911, don’t hang up.
That’s one of the messages from Victoria police who says abandoned 911 calls, either through pocket dials or misdials, are a problem for their call centre.
In 2017, Victoria police received more than 7,300 abandoned 911 calls handled by the 38 communications centre staff.
Matt Rutherford with Victoria Police public affairs says these types of calls take up a large amount of time as each one is treated as a real emergency until proven otherwise.
Police say if you accidentally call 911, stay on the line and answer questions from the call taker so they can confirm you are safe and it is a misdial.
Rutherford says you can also lock the keypad on your cell phone and store it in a way that it cannot be accidentally dialled.
Police say old cell phones should have their batteries removed if giving them to children to use since numerous 911 calls were made last year by kids.
You are also advised to not program 911 into any phone as a speed dial or test the number to see if it is working.
Andy Neal
