Washington State Enhanced 911 officials are warning the public that letting children use old, unused cellphones can lead to unintentional calls to 911 that slow down the system.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
According to E911, one in three calls to 911 is accidental.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
When children are given old cellphones, it is easy for them to accidentally call 911. Most people do not know that a cell phone call still call 911 \u2013 even if the phone has no service. All it needs is a charged battery and a cell signal.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
When a call to 911 is made accidentally by a child, call receivers at 911 centers must take the time to interview the child or call the number back during a hang-up to ensure that the call is not, in fact, intentional. These false calls can disrupt the 911 system and delay other calls to 911 that are real emergencies.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
What can you do to reduce false calls?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Keep cellphones \u201clocked\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Remove the phone\u2019s battery when storing it<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Do not allow children to play with cellphones<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Last year there were more than 6 million calls to 911 in Washington state. An additional 2 million calls were made to state non-emergency reporting numbers.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n