Stay on the line

WELLINGTON CTY. –The OPP is urging people to stay on the line when they misdial the 9-1-1 emergency line.

Cloes said in the county, police respond to an ever increasing number of 9-1-1 calls, and a steady increase over the past two years may be due to more cell phones within families.

He said a great many of those calls are mis-dialed communications where a young child has played with the phone, or a person has pocket dialled with a cell phone that was not locked.

Police have to respond to each one of those calls to ensure the safety of the caller, phone owner or child.

Cloes said many times when a 9-1-1 call taker calls back to check, the owner hangs up. If people do make an error in dialling, they should speak with the call taker and stay on the line so officers can attend as quickly as possible to verify the safety of the caller and the dialing error.

The 9-1-1 calls within the County of Wellington were:

- 2008: 1,016 calls;

- 2009: 1,038;

- 2010: 1, 570  (up 51% over the previous year); and

- 2011: 2,340 calls (an increase of 49% over the previous year).

Cloes urged “If you make an error in dialling; wait a few minutes for a responding officer to attend and speak with you.”