A post on X by Barrie Police caught our eye and we decided to take a closer look at the issue.
911 is for emergencies only – meaning there is an immediate threat to someone’s health, safety, or property. Misuse of 911 can potentially delay police, paramedics, or fire departments from responding to a life-threatening emergency.
Emergencies include:
- Immediate threats to people or property: see fire or smoke; gunshots/stabbings; car accidents with injuries; medical emergencies such as chest pain or difficulty breathing, symptoms of stroke or heart attack; carbon monoxide alarm sounding
- Crimes that are in progress such as assault, impaired driving, break and enters with suspects on scene, robbery, suspicious activity
In non-emergency situations you should contact your municipality’s non-emergency phone numbers such as by-law officers etc. Don’t call 9-1-1 to ask for non-emergency phone numbers as it ties up valuable resources.
Teaching children how and when to use 9-1-1 properly is also important. They must understand that it’s not a toy or game. However, they need to know how to use 911 in an emergency. Police recommend that you keep a household cordless phone fully charged and in the same place within the house. Keep address information near the phone and show your children where it is. Never give a child an old cell phone to use as a toy as de-commissioned phones can still dial 9-1-1.
Another issue that could delay response from emergency services is accidental 911 calls. Last June, Toronto Police reported that an astounding 50% of calls to 911 were accidental.
In a news release Toronto Police said, “When a 911 caller does not respond to the operator, hangs up or is disconnected, the operator must make contact by calling back. When it takes operators a minimum of 90 seconds to call each person back, that is time that could be better spent responding to emergency 911 calls, when every second counts.”
It’s a problem that isn’t unique to Toronto. York Regional Police said that accidental 911 calls had also increased by almost 50 percent in 2023 over 2022.
How to prevent an accidental call
- Periodically review the emergency alert settings on your cell phones and update them when required.
- Store cell phones properly so they aren’t bouncing around, sit on or get buttons pressed accidentally.
- Do not let children play with active or old cell phones, even if they are unregistered with no SIM card installed.
- Do not program 911 into your phone or contacts.
- Do not test call 911 to see if it’s working.
If you have an accidental 911 call, stay on the line so that the operator knows you’re safe.
Every year, police release lists of some of the most outrageous 911 calls they receive. Have a look:
TORONTO POLICE
- The drive-thru line at Taco Bell was too long.
- A caller’s kitchen was flooded. Officers told them to contact their insurance company and a plumber. The caller hung up and called 911 again in hopes for a different answer.
- Prank calls from kids asking if a refrigerator was running.
- A parent asked police to “scare” their 12-year-old son. The child was talking back to their parent.
- A caller wanted officers to force their nine-year-old son to tell them the Wi-Fi password after he changed it.
- Similarly, another caller dialed 911 because they wanted police to find their Wi-Fi password.
- Others called the police to get their COVID-19 test results.
- An Uber driver called the police after becoming upset that their customer wasn’t coming to the vehicle, and they had been waiting for 10 minutes.
- Calls related to missing cats or cats that were stuck in a tree.
- Someone called 911 because they wanted the non-emergency police phone number.
- An individual wanted to charge a pizza place because their order was wrong, and they were being refused a new one.
- A caller said that a parking garage gate ate their money and they couldn’t leave the area.
OTTAWA POLICE
- A person called 911 upset that her spouse wouldn’t keep to the agreed schedule of who gets to sleep alone in the master bedroom and wanted police to intervene.
- Another caller dialed 911 wanting the barista arrested for putting sugar in their coffee, they felt it was done maliciously.
- A 5-year-old called upset that her 3-year-old sister wasn’t learning how to potty train properly. When asked to go get her mommy or daddy, she replied that she wasn’t allowed to go outside because daddy was mowing the lawn.
And here’s one from Peel Regional Police that is just unbelievable.
INSERT PEEL REGION VIDEO HERE
VIMEO LINK: https://vimeo.com/904465461?share=copy
