Beach Chair Cup Holders At Bear Lake Causing Many Accidental 911 Calls

Dozens of accidental 911 emergency calls have been made at Bear Lake recently, reported KSLTV.

So what's causing it?

Beach chairs.

According to authorities, it's happening as more people are looking for relief from the heat at local beaches.

Visitors are sticking their phones in the cup holders of their foldable chairs, causing the emergency calls.

Ann Wells said, "I put it in the cup holder and walked away and started to hear the sirens going off on it."
Her sister-in-law, Jessica Chapman, said, "So I was like, ‘Oh no! It’s calling 911! Hurry and stop it!’ But uh, we didn’t make it in time."

The side button on iPhones has a feature where, when being held down, it automatically calls emergency services for you. It's proving a nuisance for some, though.

Joey Stocking, dispatcher with the Rich County Sheriff's office, said, "Yeah, when you get 50 of those in a day, and only four or five of them are real calls, it is a problem because we have to hang on the line."

According to Stocking, those accidental calls make up about 90% of all of the calls they are receiving right now.

He said, "If I take a 911 call, I'm tied up. I can't listen to my officers on the radio and I can't answer other 911 calls."

Authorities are now asking people to turn off that setting on their phones, specifically iPhones.

Stocking said, "Just scroll down until you see emergency SOS. That’s where you click ‘on’. And so there’s two options, and the problem is this auto call."