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6/1/05

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Sticks

United Kingdom
June 2011

JUN 01, 2005 01:02 AM

Emergency call centre staff must have to listen to all kinds of harrowing things. But some workers in the UK's emergency 999 service are being pestered by phone sex perverts.

Staff at the East Midlands Ambulance Service are regularly contacted by people making lurid comments.

The Leicester Mercury says around 12 staff have left due to the continual abuse, and this is nothing new.

Ambulance bosses say the problem has trebled in the past two years. They say staff are now answering about 250 nuisance calls every week - and about 30 per cent of 999 calls on Friday and Saturday nights are obscene.


The emergency services operation in the Midlands alone gets around 2,400 nuisance calls per month, with the police getting the majority of these (roughly 1,850).

deviationer

deviationer

Portland, OR
December 2003

JUN 01, 2005 07:09 AM

don't they have the same or close to to the same rules has the US does with this?

Deux

Deux

Oak Grove, KY
January 2003

JUN 01, 2005 07:10 AM

I take it that the system isn't able to bring up the caller's street location? That system would eliminate about 98% of those types of calls fairly quickly. The heavy breathers would cease and desist rather quickly once a couple of constables showed up on their doorsteps.

Bastardo

Bastardo

Boston, MA
January 2005

JUN 01, 2005 07:29 AM

I HATE FALSE ALARMS!
ASSHOLES!!!!!

Vore

Vore

United Kingdom
January 2005

JUN 01, 2005 08:13 AM

Nice to know people are willing to risk the lives of others for a laugh.

Of course the 'heavy breather's could just be after the fire department a little late...

dem_z

dem_z

United Kingdom
June 2004

JUN 01, 2005 08:47 AM

Deux said:
I take it that the system isn't able to bring up the caller's street location?


Yes, the 999 emergency line has ANI, which cannot be forged (unlike CLI), but this isn't so useful for public telephones or cell phones.

Like the article says: they're going to start switching cell phones off soon.

Another problem is the sheer volume of hoax / silent calls. 15 million hoax, misdialled or inappropriate calls in 2003.

odd reasons to call 999

_roy

_roy

Whittier, CA
October 2002

JUN 01, 2005 12:01 PM

a while back I use to be in the habbit of calling the "BROKEN/LEAKING GAS MAIN-LINE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD" people after finding a sign off the railroad tracks and hanging it in my room. those guys seriously listened to all my middle school girl issues, it was so helpful.

meanwhile, people BURN.

Glassmachine

Glassmachine

United Kingdom
November 2004

JUN 01, 2005 12:07 PM

Deux said:
I take it that the system isn't able to bring up the caller's street location? That system would eliminate about 98% of those types of calls fairly quickly. The heavy breathers would cease and desist rather quickly once a couple of constables showed up on their doorsteps.



We probably don't have enough spare police for that.

My friend got a call back from the 999 service after he sat on his phone. Whoops. Was a total accident. 112 and 999 don't keylock.