Smartphones far from smart for emergency call centers

By Kim Tae-jong

At 119 emergency call centers, even one minute is critical to save people in need of urgent assistance. Such critical time and energy have been wasted these days because of increasingly accidental emergency calls by smartphone users.

Many of these calls result from touch-screen smartphones’ dialing unknowingly in the pockets or handbags of the smartphone owner.

“Accidental emergency calls occur more frequently with the increasing number of smartphone users,” said Ha Jong-geun, an official from the Gyeonggi Fire Service.

However, the bigger problem is most of these accidental callers hang up immediately.

“When we get such calls, we only hear some noise without any voice or response as the callers just hang up.”

Emergency call centers have to call back and confirm if the caller is in a real emergency situation especially when receiving a call from the same number more than three times, he said.

“Due to the growing number of accidental calls we have to deal with, we are concerned we may fail to respond more effectively to actual calls from those who really need help.”

Some smartphones, such as Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S II, feature a touch button on their startup screen that allows users to make a quick emergency call, but the function often ends up sending false alarms according to emergency service centers.

Some of the accidental calls result from children pushing the emergency button while playing with the phone.

Kim Yo-han, a 35-year-old office worker in Seoul, has a five-year-old daughter, who often plays with his smartphone. She sometimes inadvertently presses the emergency dial button on its startup screen.

“It’s one of her favorite toys these days,” Kim said. “But the problem is, even if I lock the phone, she can easily call the police or 119 emergency call centers.”

According to the Busan Fire Department, 310,000 accidental calls were made in the first six months of the year, up 72 percent from a year earlier.

Of the accidental calls, about 85 percent were made by smartphones while in the pocket or bags of users or simply unintentionally while they were playing with the phone, the agency said, citing a survey.

“Most respondents said they did not even realize their phones had dialed 119,” said an official from the port city’s fire department.