Lost nose ring, burger joint opens too late: Emergency call center reveals last year's most absurd calls

British Columbia - Lost nose ring, burger joint opens too late: Emergency call center reveals last year's most absurd calls

Injuries, accidents, crimes: There are many good reasons to make an emergency call. But far too often, calls that really have nothing to do with emergencies end up in the control centers. One of the operators has now compiled the funniest ones for the turn of the year, from a lost nose ring to the wrong haircut.

The list from emergency call operator E-Comm has become a tradition. Once a year, the company, which handles emergency calls for almost the entire Canadian province of British Columbia, publishes the funniest reasons why people have called 911.

These are the funniest emergency call reasons

"My favorite story is the call about a bad haircut," says call center employee Alaina Milicevic about the so-called "nuisance calls". In the company's ranking, however, it only comes in at number 10. This is the complete list:

1. Asking for directions home after a Drake concert
2. The traffic light took too long to turn green
3. She lost a nose ring in the shower drain
4. The AirBnB host canceled the reservation
5. The UberEats order took too long
6. A burger joint wouldn't let callers in before opening time
7. They couldn't find their cell phone
8. They wanted to complain about a pothole
9. The McDonalds order took too long
10. The hairdresser gave them a bad haircut

Don't be afraid of the emergency call

Even if not every nuisance call is so funny, all employees are familiar with this type of call, reports telephone operator Jessica Josic. "Everyone gets a few of them a day." However, the calls cannot simply be ignored. "Until we can be really sure, we have to treat them like a real emergency," she explains. "Only when the callers are really out of danger can we hang up or forward them to the right people."

The company's operators actually have enough to do: According to Global News, the center recorded more than 2.1 million calls in 2023, up 13 percent on last year due to the particularly dangerous wildfire season. Nevertheless, Milicevic explains that people should call if in doubt. "We don't want people to be afraid to call the emergency services. But sometimes they should just think beforehand."

Read also:

• Telefónica targets market launch for hologram telephony
• vzbv: Internet companies continue to cheat despite ban
• Telefónica targets market launch for hologram telephony in 2026
• Worldcoin project docks onto Telegram and Reddit

1. Despite the worrying increase in emergency calls due to wildfires in British Columbia, the call center operator E-Comm encourages individuals to make an emergency call if they're unsure.
2. In the top 10 list of absurd calls to the 911 emergency call center in British Columbia last year, a burger store refusing entry before opening time made an appearance.
3. World news sites like Stern are reporting that the World's most absurd emergency calls include a call from a person who was unable to find their cell phone and contacted the emergency call center in British Columbia.
4. The call center employee, Alaina Milicevic, shared her favorite absurd call story, which involved a visit to a burger store in British Columbia where the individual was upset that they were not allowed to enter before opening time.
5. The British Columbia-based call center for emergencies, E-Comm, released a top 10 list of the funniest reasons people called 911 in 2023, including a call about a late-opening burger store that was considered a nuisance call.

Source: www.stern.de