The public education campaign, Breathing, includes a two-part video series (Part 1; Part 2) highlighting how difficult it can be for call takers to differentiate between accidental calls and real emergencies.
According to E-Comm, approximately 20 per cent of all calls received on 9-1-1 lines are accidentally placed. These accidental calls take critical resources away from actual emergencies, where they are most needed. E-Comm call takers are trained to treat each 9-1-1 call as an emergency until they can verify otherwise. This process is necessary to ensure the safety of all callers, notably those who may be experiencing a crisis but are unable to communicate verbally. As noted in the two-part video series, those who dial 9-1-1 by accident are advised not to hang up, but instead to stay on the line and confirm that they are safe.
E-Comm has also outlined five tips for preventing pocket dials:
- Lock and store your cellphone carefully whenever it’s not in use.
- Know and understand the features on your cellphone and smartwatch. If you have “fall detection” or Emergency SOS functions enabled, become familiar with how they are triggered.
- Turn your device on airplane mode if children are playing with it.
- Do not program 9-1-1 into any phone.
- If you do call 9-1-1 by accident, do not hang up. We need you to stay on the line so that we can ensure your safety.