September 25, 2004
E-911 deals with 'hang-ups' on daily basis
On any given day, the local Emergency Management Agency and E-911 center receives numerous 911 hangups. Some incidents involve callers who have made dialing mistakes, reports The Star News.
"Others are instances of children playing on the phone, and some are actual emergencies - situations where the caller cannot talk for some reason or is too injured to communicate.
The problem is, emergency officials cannot take for granted that any call is not serious, but there are certain things that people can do to make it easier on 911 dispatchers.
"If for some reason you catch your child playing on the phone, say something to us or we'll have to call back", said an official.
Parents often give their children old cell phones to play with. Even if the phone is not activated or no longer in service, if it still contains a battery, 911 services are available on that cell phone.
"If the batteries are still in cell phones that are not activated, take them out before giving them to children to play with," the director advised.
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