Calling 911 is not the best way to get directions to your parents’ house, report that you don’t like your daughter’s friends or settle an argument about which TV channel to watch.

All of those, though, are reasons why people in Norfolk County, Ont., have decided to dial 911 since the beginning of the year.

“People are calling up because they want to be fed food or because they want to know the weather conditions,” Ontario Provincial Police Const. Ed Sanchuk told CTVNews.ca.

“People need to realize that when you call 911 for non-911 emergencies, you’re now tying up a call-taker, a dispatcher and two officers that will attend that call.”

On average, each call takes about 30 minutes to investigate. Sometimes it takes longer to figure out where the call came from, as it did when a woman called 911 four times while testing her new phone, hanging up each time.

“Officers spent 45 minutes to an hour circling the area, seeing if there was an emergency anywhere out there,” Sanchuk said.

Police respond to every 911 hang-up because they have no way of knowing whether the situation is or is not an emergency. People wanting to alert police to ongoing situations sometimes make quick, discreet 911 calls without saying a word.

Policing agencies maintain separate phone numbers for matters that do require police attention but are not emergencies. Sanchuk recommends that anyone who calls 911 by accident stay on the line and explain the situation.

There have been plenty of other 911 calls in Norfolk County since the start of 2019 that didn’t require an immediate response from police officers, firefighters or paramedics, including:

  • Somebody who couldn’t get their key out of their safety deposit box
  • A man who said he was lost and needed help finding his way back to his parents’ house
  • One of two men “involved in a disagreement about what television channel should be watched”
  • A man who said strangers were teasing him as he walked down the street
  • Fifteen people reporting raccoon sightings within the same 12-hour period
  • A mother who wanted police to know that she didn’t like her 17-year-old daughter’s friends

While Sanchuk has publicized some of those stranger 911 calls, he’s also used one recent call as a perfect example of when calling 911 is the right thing to do.

On Jan. 25, a 35-year-old woman suffered a medical emergency and went unconscious. Her seven-year-old son called 911 for help.

“If it wasn’t for this young man calling, his mother probably wouldn’t have survived,” Sanchuk said.

“This little boy is a true hero. He remained calm, he contacted 911, he got the emergency services that he needed to get help for his mom.”

The boy was scheduled to receive a surprise visit at school Friday from first responders, who would present him with a lifesaving citation and police memorabilia.

Sanchuk said parents should use the boy’s story to explain to their children when and how to call 911.

“To him, he just called 911. To everybody else, he saved somebody’s life,” he said.

“If we have a seven-year-old boy that knows when to call 911, why are we having all these adults that are having issues?”