Why block mobile 999 calls?

Consider this scenario:

A man is walking down the street. In his pocket, 9-9-9-Call gets pressed on his mobile phone.

"Emergency Services, how can I help you? (pause) Emergency Services, how can I help you?"

Meanwhile, another man in another part of the area, has an accident. They happen to be near a phone box, so one of his friends uses it to dial 999.

"Thank you for calling the Emergency Services. All our operators are busy dealing with other people reporting emergencies. Your call is being held in a queue. Please hold, and it will be answered as soon as possible, in the order it was received."

The first man continues walking down the street, oblivious to the voice in his pocket repeating every so often:

"Emergency Services, how can I help you? (pause) Emergency Services, how can I help you?"

The operator is thinking: They probably accidentally dialled 999 with the phone in their pocket. I wish I was allowed to hang up - there may be someone waiting who urgently needs help!

Meanwhile, the second man has lost half his blood, and his friend is getting very frustrated with:

"All our operators are still busy dealing with other people reporting emergencies. Your call is still being held in a queue. Please hold, and it will be answered as soon as possible, in the order it was received."

The first man still hasn't twigged that his mobile's dialled 999.

"Emergency Services, how can I help you? (pause) Emergency Services, how can I help you?"

The second man dies.

In the funeral, the vicar says "It was unfortunate that he had an accident. It was even more unfortunate that the Emergency Services were busy. If they had been able to deal with him, he would still be alive today."

Let's try that again:

A man is walking down the street. In his pocket, 9-9-9-Call gets pressed on his mobile phone.

"Thank you for calling the Emergency Services. We have detected that you are calling from a mobile phone. Sorry, the Emergency Services are only available from landlines. Please call back from a landline. Goodbye. BEEP BEEP BEEP"

Meanwhile, another man in another part of the area, has an accident. They happen to be near a phone box, so one of his friends uses it to dial 999.

"Emergency Services, how can I help you?"
"I need an ambulance."
"Transferring you to the Ambulance Service."

Within minutes, an ambulance arrives, and a few weeks later, he is healed and released from hospital, alive and well.

BLOCK MOBILE 999 CALLS

IT COULD SAVE SOMEONE'S LIFE







But instead, what do the mobile phone manufacturers do?
THEY MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO MAKE 999 CALLS FROM PHONES WITH LOCKED KEYPADS, PHONES THAT ARE BOOTING UP, WITHOUT ENTERING THE PIN CODE IF ONE IS SET OR EVEN IF THE SIM CARD IS BLOCKED!