WARREN COUNTY, Ohio — Warren County's emergency dispatch center has some new technology to help weed out accidental 911 calls.
The county said dozens of accidental calls from Kings Island became a problem as they have taken up time needed to handle real emergencies.
The new service will affect all 911 calls handled by the communications center. When you call you will now receive a text message that explains what to do if you need emergency help unless the call was by mistake.
The county's director of emergency services, Melissa Bour, said the service relieves dispatchers from having to make calls back to cell phones that have made accidental calls.
At the root of the problem is a feature on many smartphones that calls 911 automatically if buttons on the side of a phone are held down. This can happen when people have phones in their pockets while on rides at the amusement park.
Dispatchers said they received 15 hang up calls and 128 silent calls from Kings Island last weekend.
