WASHINGTON COUNTY 911 WARNING AGAINST FRAUDULENT CALLS

  

Washington County 911 cautions parents to keep an eye on their kids if they have access to old cell phones, as they can still dial 911.

At Tuesday’s County Commissioners meeting, Washington County 911 Director Kristi Stamnes gave numbers on the past month’s emergency calls.  While they were down overall, at less than 6,000 calls, she noticed several “spoof calls,” or non-emergency calls made to the department.

She says this was mostly caused by kids accidentally dialing 911 when playing with old phones.

 

These kinds of calls come in sporadically to the department, but Stamnes says even a few of them can tie up phone lines and lose valuable time for those that need it.

 

Washington County 911 reminds citizens that if they need to make an emergency call on an out-of-service phone, they will need to stay on the line and provide all relevant information—including location—to the department.