B.C.'s biggest 911 call centre has released its annual list of the year's worst nuisance calls, and there are some doozies.
A few that made the cut in 2016: callers who complained they couldn't get into a nightclub, were sick of waiting in traffic, or couldn't get their teenager to do chores.
"There's a big spider in my bathroom," one caller decided to tell a 911 operator. Another asked for the time.
As it does every year, E-Comm, which handles emergency calls for most cities in the province, once again urged the public not to tie up potentially life-saving resources with petty problems, complaints and questions.
The 911 service is designed for real emergencies only, which E-Comm defines as situations where someone’s health, safety or property is in jeopardy or where there’s a crime in progress.
Unfortunately, operators have to treat every call seriously, regardless of how inconsequential the issue might seem.
"Our job is to treat each call like an emergency until we can determine otherwise, and this takes time. We want our time reserved for people who need help because they have a legitimate emergency," call-taker Jim Beland said in a statement provided by E-Comm.
The full list of 2016's worst nuisance calls includes:
- Requesting help opening a broken gym locker
- Enquiring about job opportunities for a family member interested in police work
- Because an electric shaver would not turn off
- Requesting a ladder to get a soccer ball off the roof
- How best to get a drone down from a tree
- Tired of waiting in traffic
- “There’s a big spider in the bathroom”
- Complaining they couldn’t get into a nightclub
- Because their teenager refused to do chores
- “Can you tell me what time it is?”
E-Comm takes roughly 1.35 million 911 calls per year, servicing Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast and 22 other regional districts and communities across B.C.
