Huronia West OPP respond to 79 false 911 calls over Civic Holiday long weekend

OPP say officers responded to 79 false 911 calls in Wasaga Beach, Springwater and Clearview between Friday evening and Sunday night.

During that time period, police received a total of 273 calls, 29 per cent of which were fake, according to police.

Police say every time an unintentional call is made, an emergency communicator must determine if a real emergency exists and if police, fire crews or paramedics should be dispatched.

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Every unintentional call takes away from someone who really needs help, OPP add.

Officers say people can prevent 911 pocket dials by locking the keypads on their phones, avoiding programming their devices to speed-dial 911 and ensuring the auto call feature is turned off on smartwatches that are linked to cellphones.