911 should be used to report: life threatening emergencies, crimes in progress, medical issues, fires, or any situation where there is a potential for violence.
Simply stay on the phone and tell the dispatcher that you dialed by mistake. When you dial 911 and hang up immediately your phone call still comes through as a built-in safety feature of the emergency system. This causes the operator to have to call back and we will still send emergency services to the location you called from, which may delay response to a valid emergency.
Answering the operator’s questions does not delay the police or medical response in any way. While you are answering pertinent questions required of the operator, the information is being sent to the officers or medical response team as they respond to you. Situations change quickly in the time it takes for them to respond, and the chances of apprehending a suspect or stopping a violent act in progress are greatly increased when you provide the information the operator is asking for.
Yes. Disconnected cell phones, that are charged, still have the ability to dial 911. Please keep this information in mind when giving your old phone to a child to play with, as we receive many calls from children playing on disconnected cell phones. These calls take away from answering real emergency calls.
Yes. Our center is equipped to receive and respond to your text messages. We will still have pertinent questions that will need answered. Call if you can, text if you can’t.
