Automatic Emergency Calling from Your Phone

A few months ago we were on our way to the range where I work. It was gorgeous out and my boyfriend was taking me to work on the bike. (I wasn’t riding by myself at that point and I knew the parking lot was going to be packed due to a car show at the range.) About halfway to work, my phone rang. It was my daughter, so I sent her to voicemail and was going to call her when I got to work. My phone started ringing again (It was on vibrate in my back pocket), so I sent her to voicemail again and adjusted my phone in my pocket.

Turns out, I didn’t just adjust my phone, I had swiped for 911. :frowning: When I saw it I hung up as quickly as possible as I could still make out the ringing on their end. Evidently, it was too late. They called me back and I made my boyfriend pull over and turn off the bike. I explained what happened and they said they understood, but were going to have to send a patrol officer to make sure I was ok. They agreed to send him to the range… where we were having a charity car show… and it was really busy already when I got there at 8:45 am… :flushed:

The officer met me at the range and had a great time talking to all of the people who were there, so it turned out OK and the officer wasn’t distracted from a real emergency. I was embarrassed but grateful that the officer understood.

Evidently Apple had updated their iOS the night before and the police were getting a lot of false calls.

While the easy access to 911 on a cell phone can cause a lot of issues, it can also help save someone’s life. Here’s how to make an emergency call on an iPhone.
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/make-emergency-calls-iph3c99374c/ios

Have you had to call 911 on a cell phone? Do you know how to unlock someone else’s cell phone to call 911?

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Hilarious! Thanks for sharing that. :smiley:

Yes, I’ve made more than one emergency call from my phone. I also have the local NON-emergency number programed in. I know how to dial 911 from MY phone when it is locked, and I have see it on a couple others, both Android. And now, thanks to you, I know how to do it on an iPhone.

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