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999 nonsense
Emergency services receive a host of unusual calls |
A family dialling 999 to get the TV fixed is just the latest lunatic call to leave the emergency services fuming.
Problems with knitting and squirrels fighting are just two of the more unusual scenarios that have prompted calls for urgent assistance.
The situation is becoming so serious that one police force has launched a campaign to stop people clogging the 999 system.
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Mind-boggling calls |
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Man complained squirrels were fighting in his garden |
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Couple handcuffed themselves together and lost the key |
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Woman called to ask about problems with knitting |
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Woman on the M1 rang 999 to ask the time |
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Man asked for help with singing birds keeping him awake |
While they happily respond immediately to incidents such as bank raids and car crashes - officers are increasingly worried vital minutes are being used up by trivial calls.
It is not just the police force that is suffering from abuses of the 999 system.
On Monday, it was West Midlands Ambulance Service that responded to a family's call for an ambulance - only to arrive and discover the TV was on the blink.
Ambulance service Wolverhampton area station manager Mark Chapman said the family - who have not been named - failed to understand the 999 system.
"We responded to what we believed to be a genuine incident only to find that they wanted us to repair the TV," Mr Chapman said.
"My concern is that a paramedic crew responded to the call, when they could have been needed elsewhere for a genuine emergency."
'Mind-boggling
Superintendent Graham Cassidy, head of South Yorkshire Police communications department, said: "It's mind-boggling how anybody could think we could assist with a problem with knitting or how anybody driving down the M1 could phone to ask the time.
"The 999 service is for real emergencies. People should realise they are delaying genuine calls."
The new campaign would not mean that genuine emergencies would be ignored, Mr Cassidy stressed.
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See also: |
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10 Sep 99 | UK |
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Mobile phones clog up 999 service |
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15 Nov 98 | Health |
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Hoax calls risk lives |
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24 Sep 98 | Health |
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Patients dial 999 for a broken finger |
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West Midlands Ambulance Service |
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South Yorkshire Police |
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