Just saw this on FB.
Very interesting...
North Yorkshire Police
Accidentally dialled 999? 📞
Your natural reaction might be to hang up as soon as possible so as not to waste police time.
But did you know that if you hang up without speaking to the operator your call will be passed to us as a 'silent call'?
And many people don’t realise that we then need to spend valuable time trying to call you back to establish whether there is an emergency situation and determine if an emergency response is needed.
So, if you accidentally dial 999 then the best thing you can do is to stay on the line and let the operator know that it was an accident and that no assistance is required.
Please don’t just hang up.
Over the past seven days we have had nearly 500 abandoned calls. On average we estimate that we get approximately 20,000 calls a year that are an accidental or ‘pocket-dial’ calls.
That’s thousands of hours a year where we could be answering genuine 999 calls and 101 calls much quicker.
But there are ways you can help up:
- As mentioned above, always stay on the line and explain what has happened to the emergency service call handler if you accidentally call 999. Do not simply hang up.
- Keep your phone safe and out of reach from children and pets.
- And lock your phone before you put it in your pocket or bag.
We understand that accidents happen, but if you accidentally call us, by staying on the line you can help us save time tracing the call and free up our colleagues’ time to take genuine 999 calls from those really in need of help.
As always, if a crime is in progress or if there is an immediate risk to person or property, always dial 999.
If a crime is not in progress, then please consider reporting the incident online to us via our website in the first instance. Alternatively, you can call 101.