When You Buy a New Cell Phone, What do YOU Do With Your Old Cell Phone?

When You Buy a New Cell Phone, What do YOU Do With Your Old Cell Phone?

This is a question everyone should ask themselves! Especially with the kids starting school and heading off to college, with NEW phones in their pockets!

Why?

Because what you may not be aware of is that even though you are NO longer paying for service to the old cell phone, it can STILL dial 9-1-1.

Since 1996, there has been a Federal Mandate that ALL disconnected residential lines and cell phones, must STILL be able to call 9-1-1. The thought, which was very commendable, was that people would be able to call for emergency assistance, when immediately needed, even if they could not afford phone service, ie for medical emergencies or domestic violence.

The problem has come in that cell phones are now AFFORDABLE to change out yearly. Which means there are more and more old cell phones hanging around and being played with by toddlers and young children. It may seem cute, but on most modern cell phones, if you long press the 9 key, 9-1-1 is dialed (again it is an emergency feature).  Doesn't seem like a big issue, but let me give you a chilling example of why it is NOT.

Last March in Florida, a 5 year-old boy called 9-1-1 on a disconnected cell phone, that his parents had given him to play with, unaware that it was still capable of dialing 9-1-1. During the first voice call, he said to send, “a cop and a fire truck,.” and then he made three more non-voice 9-1-1 calls. Call-backs to the cellular phone were not answered (in fact, disconnected cell phone calls can NOT be called back- there is NO number assigned to them!). In response, the sheriff’s dispatcher dispatched two units to the child’s home, as deputies had previously been to the address for a domestic violence incident, and the call appeared believable.

Courtesy of Scott Davidson flicker

Due to the believed nature of the call, the deputies were responding as quickly as possible. About a mile away from the residence, as they approached a signaled intersection, a car came into the intersection, intending to make a left turn. The first deputy swerved and missed the vehicle. The second patrol car, traveling 78 mph, struck the oncoming car. Both of the car's occupants, an elderly couple, died from the collision. The deputy was slightly injured. 

 In a 60-page investigative report, Florida Highway Patrol said the boy had actually pressed “a very long series of numbers (one sequential string),which included the digits "911', but not the specific number "9-1-1" by itself. The State Attorney’s Office ruled there was insufficient evidence to press criminal charges against the child’s parents. 

With over 70% of 9-1-1 calls coming from cell phones to 9-1-1 dispatchers, and OVER half of those from disconnected cell phones, you can do the math about how much TIME can be wasted on calls from kids playing with used cell phones! AND because most centers only have 3-5 9-1-1 lines to answer for the entire area they serve, if you have 2 kids playing on disconnected phones and dialing 9-1-1, then that means 2 people may be trying to call for an accident, a medical emergency, a fire, burglar in their house, or worse, and NOT be able to reach a 9-1-1 dispatcher. Think about that for a moment- what if it was YOU trying to make that call amount your child or your parent in need of help?

So what can you do with those old cell phones,
 to keep this from happening?


1. If you keep a disconnected cell phone for emergency use only, be aware that 9-1-1 dispatchers receive no information on these calls- that means no phone number and no location (the mapping ONLY works if there is paid service to the phone). AND they can't call you back, if the line is disconnected.  If you call 9-1-1 from a disconnected cell phone, be sure to give your location first, and the nature of the call second.

2. If you do give your old phone to your child, remove the battery first.  Little fingers playing with those buttons will eventually stumble on to 9-1-1. Seriously, lock your phone and give it to a 3 year old to play with. Most of them will call 9-1-1 within 5 minutes. Yes, EVEN locked phone CAN call 9-1-1!!

3. Send your old phones to programs that collect them for domestic violence victims or for soldiers overseas! Many have collection centers all over the country. OR sell them- modern smart  phones can be sold on many locations online. 

AND finally, 2 things to also keep in mind:

1. If you have a child moving into an apartment without a residential phone line, buy them a cheap land phone. As long as there is a working phone jack, they can call 9-1-1 from it. Think of it as added insurance, in case their cell phone battery has ran out, or they can't get to their cell phone, in case of emergency, like fire or a break in. 

2. Please, please, remind everyone you know that smart phones have no exterior keypad controls. EVEN when locked, 9-1-1 CAN be called! If the onscreen keyboard comes up and the 9 key is pressed for more than 15 seconds, the phone WILL dial 9-1-1. Even from the cell phone holder's back pocket, purse or passenger seat! These calls tie up 9-1-1 dispatchers, as department policy REQUIRES them to call back on any call where there is no contact. 

Thank you and happy calling!