It’s become an all-too-common occurrence for Red Deer emergency dispatcher Andrea McLean.
She answers a 911 call to hear a confused person on the other line wondering how they got the number. Knowingly she asks, “Was your phone in a cup holder?” They say “Yes” and she begins to explain.
On iPhone 8 or later, an emergency SOS call can be made by holding down both side buttons at the same time. A new screen appears and soon a countdown starts and a warning sounds. If no action is taken, a 911 call is triggered.
McLean says this sequence of events often happens accidentally when the iPhone is pressed into cup holders.
“Sometimes it’s kids playing, sometimes it’s someone accidentally calling – things like that. But we blame a lot of it on the cup holders,” McLean, assistant to the deputy chief of the Red Deer 911 Emergency Communications Center, said in an interview with the Calgary Opener.
“We try to train them one at a time.”
They also launched a social media campaign to draw attention to the issue.
It’s another beautiful weekend in Central Alberta!!
Every weekend we get HUNDREDS of random calls from cell phones in cup holders. While we love to hear all your good times, everyone connects to a hotline.
This weekend pic.twitter.com/Ou9jIn0uKP
—@RedDeer911
In June, the center received about 15,000 calls, of which about 3,500 were false, McLean said. These calls take much-needed resources from a team serving more than 453,000 people in about 70 communities, from Leduc to Airdrie and from the borders of British Columbia to Saskatchewan.
“If you don’t answer me … We actually have to manually call you,” McLean said.
“If you don’t answer the phone, that’s another problem because if I hear something funny or suspicious, we have to get the police involved because we’re just not sure about the safety.”
An example of an emergency screen that appears when the iPhone’s SOS mode is activated. (apple)
This isn’t just a problem for Red Deer Emergency Center.
In a statement, Magni Magnason, deputy commander of Calgary 911, said they receive 300 to 400 accidental 911 calls a day.
“A contributing factor is the iPhone’s emergency calling feature,” Magnason said.
“Most often it happens when the phone is placed in a pocket, bag or cup holder. It can also happen when the alarm is silenced or someone is trying to adjust the music volume.”
Calls from cell phones that do not have a subscription are the second most common type of accidental call to 911 in Calgary. Incorrect dialing also occurs on some Android and older iPhones when certain buttons are pressed quickly.
To reduce the chances of misdialing 911, you may want to change your phone settings, Magnason said. You can add an extra step to the process by requiring someone to swipe the phone’s screen before the call is made.
If you want to keep your functions the same and accidentally call 911, the most important thing is to stay on the line, McLean says.
“Tell us you’re safe and it’s a lot quicker for us to just have that conversation.”
Her advice though? Just keep your phone away from cup holders in the first place.
6:56#Just say No to cup holders
Why Red Deer’s 9-1-1 Emergency Call Center is asking iPhone users to #JustSayNo to cup holders.
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