NEWS: Idiots Pester Emergency Line Staff

CULTURE: Idiots Pester Emergency Line Staff

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.

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).

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

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.

I HATE FALSE ALARMS!
ASSHOLES!!!!!

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...

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

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.

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.