Don't let your phone dial 9-1-1 from your pocket!

Did you know that storing your phone in your pocket or the cup-holder of your vehicle can accidentally trigger your phone's Emergency SOS feature and it will call 9-1-1?  Emergency SOS is an optional feature that can dial 9-1-1 when the side buttons on your phone are either held down or pressed repeatedly.

DRPS experienced a 19 per cent increase in 9-1-1 cell phone hang-ups between the months of April to May after a Samsung Android software update that turned the Emergency SOS feature on. This software update impacted call volumes across Canada, USA and Europe with an average call volume increase of 20 per cent.

We encourage all residents and visitors of Durham Region to check the SOS settings on your wireless devices and help reduce unnecessary calls to 9-1-1, so we can keep the lines clear for real life or death emergencies. This past weekend alone our 9-1-1/Comms Centre received 1,040 cell phone hang up calls and our operators have to call every single hang-up back, tying up emergency lines. It takes approximately 90 seconds for our operators to call back and clear a cell phone hang-up – for 1,040 calls it took approximately 26 hours of valuable 9-1-1 operator time – and that was just over the weekend. This could impact real emergency calls and Every Second Counts!

If your phone does accidentally call 9-1-1 please stay on the line and let the 9-1-1 operator know it was accidental and assistance is not required. It saves them the time it takes to call you back. If you choose to keep this feature activated, please store your phone properly to prevent accidental 9-1-1 calls.