KILJ had the opportunity to talk with Henry County Sherriff Rich McNamee, Dispatch Supervisor Lora Ruby, and Dispatcher Janae Body about Accidental 911 calls in Henry County.
Sheriff McNamee updated nearly half of all 911 dispatch calls are accidental in Henry County. Dispatcher Janae Body advises that if you do accidentally call 911, stay on the line to inform the dispatcher of your location and accidental call. This allows the dispatcher to make note of the call and move on to the next call. If you hang up instead of talking to the dispatcher they then have to call back, track the call of the location, and send an officer to ensure the caller is safe.
Dispatch Supervisor Lora Ruby also highlights even if a phone is disconnected from cell phone service it is still able to connect to 911 as long as the battery is not completely dead. Because of this it is crucial we teach young children appropriate times to call 911 and that even though the phone can not call anyone else, they can still call 911.
Most cellphones come with an automatic Emergency SOS feature. This feature allows the phone to call 911 quickly in an emergency, but may cause an accidental 911 call.
iPhone – Press and hold right side button and one volume button together
Android – Press side button 5 or more times quickly
Samsung – Press side button quickly 3-4 times
These features can be turned off, to do this go to your settings and toggle the Emergency SOS button to OFF. This prevents external button presses from being used to dial, but it DOES NOT disable your phones ability to call 911.