MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — If you’re anything like the rest of us, you’ve likely “pocket dialed” someone on accident at least once. Or worse, set off your phone’s “Emergency SOS” feature, by clicking the side button too many times.
Dispatchers at Morgan County 911 say accidental 911 calls are more common than you’d think.
“20% of our call volume is made up of hang-up calls, most of them pocket dials and Apple Watches,” Dispatcher Lance Greene said.
Greene said if you accidentally call 911, don’t panic, and don’t hang up.
“Stay on the phone,” he said. “You’re not going to be in trouble, but we can process that call a lot quicker than if you were to hang up.”
However, if you do hang up, Morgan County 911 is equipped with an abandoned call feature. If the system detects a call hang up from a cell phone, it will automatically send a text to that cell phone and alert dispatchers.
The text will ask you to respond if there is not an emergency.
“If for some reason you respond to that message with anything but no, it will notify us that we need to follow up with that call,” Greene said. “It will bring up a text box on the phone screen where we can communicate directly with the caller.”
He said dispatchers will take action if they don’t receive any response in a certain amount of time.
If the hang-up was due to an actual emergency situation where you can’t talk on the phone, Greene said to respond to the text message with your address.
Morgan County is equipped with Text-to-911, where you can directly text 911.
Greene said this feature is good for the Deaf community and in situations where you need to remain quiet.
“A kidnapping, a home invasion where you’re trying to hide from the suspect or you’re just trying to be very discreet and you just need assistance, but you don’t want the person standing beside you to know that you’ve called,” Greene said.
Whether it is a real emergency or an accidental call, Greene said to try and remain as calm as you can.
The post What happens when you accidentally call 911? appeared first on WHNT.
