Faulty fuel pumps, cutting in line and children playing with chalk top list of worst 911 calls in BC for 2022

E-comm 911 releases a top 10 list of the most frivolous calls they received over the year, and try to urge people not to tie up emergency resources.

In 2022, the worst calls included everything from a faulty pump at a gas station, to someone cutting in line at the car wash.

“Whether you’re fed up with the nozzle failing to fuel your car at the gas station or you’re a driver dealing with a flat tire, consumer complaints do not belong on the emergency lines,” E-comm said.

One call taker, Mark Kolomejac, has responded to many nuisance calls during his time. He says that although general questions and complaints might not seem like a significant burden, their impact on public safety can be detrimental.

“Nuisance calls never belong on emergency lines, but it’s extremely concerning how often callers know their non-urgent concerns aren’t an appropriate reason to call 911. We regularly get callers stating ‘I know this isn’t an emergency, but I didn’t know who else to call,’” explains Mark.

“If you have a flat tire or a broken windshield wiper for example, we can’t help you on 911, but a towing company or roadside assistance will be able to get you the support that you need.”

Without further adieu, here were the top 10 nuisance 911 calls received in 2022:

1. The nozzle wasn’t working at the gas station
2. They had a flat tire and didn’t want to pay for a tow truck
3. People were playing basketball on a public court at night time
4. Someone wasn’t picking up after their dog
5. Someone was using their garbage bin
6. Complaining about children drawing with chalk at a playground
7. Their phone was stuck in a bench
8. Looking for an update on a nationwide telco outage
9. Someone cut in line at the car wash
10. Someone called 9-1-1 because they had a broken window wiper

E-comm handles 99% of 911 calls in the province out of two emergency communications centres. In 2022, they answered a total of 2,109,440 calls, marking the busiest year in the organization’s history with a 1.8% increase from the year before.

Someone called 9-1-1 because they had a flat tire and didn’t want to pay for a tow truck 🛞 (2/12)

— E-Comm 9-1-1 (@EComm911_info) January 4, 2023

Of those calls, 98% were answered in five seconds or less—surpassing both E-Comm’s contracted service level and industry standards for 911 call answer.

If you don’t know who to reach out to, E-comm has a comprehensive list of alternative resources online here.