By EMS1 Staff
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — Officials urged parents to teach children not to play with disconnected phones after a 911 center was flooded with calls.
KUTV reported that a child playing with a disconnected phone made more 30 calls in 30 minutes before dispatchers were able to pinpoint the phone’s location.
“It was one call after another after,” South Jordan police Sgt. Sam Winkler said.
Winkler added that the issue is something dispatchers deal with consistently, and said 437 unfounded 911 calls were dealt with in December.
The Valley Emergency Communications Center said its dispatchers dealt with nearly 2,000 false cell phone calls in the past week.
“It’s a waste of our time and resources to go out and try and track these numbers down,” he said.
Winkler said that while the FCC requires every cell phone to be able to call 911, education on the issue is key.
“Either don’t let children play with these phones, or if you do, make sure they don’t have power or the batteries are removed for them,” he said.