Bay Area Emergency Phone Numbers – 911 Alternatives

Shamelessly stolen form the Stanford Fire Marshall’s Office: Everyone knows that in case of an emergency to call 911. This phone number has been so universally engrained into society that people will call for reasons that aren’t emergencies. Such as reporting the fact that they just felt an earthquake, as though the dispatchers who answer the line didn’t experience it themselves. Now that everyone has the number committed to memory and isn’t afraid to use it we have a new complication to throw in. Cell phones and let’s face it everyone has one.

Some people are so accustomed to them they no longer feel the need to pay for a landline phone in their home. But what happens when you call 911 from your cell phone is not the same as when you call from a landline phone. All 911 phone calls from cell phones are forwarded to the California Highway Patrol dispatch center, which receive more than 6 million calls a year statewide, up from 29,000 in 1998. As a result what will happen most often is that the caller will be greeted with a recorded message saying all operators are busy. Once you do manage to get through you will need to convey all of the information related to the emergency you are reporting, then you will be transferred to the appropriate local dispatch center, where you will be requested to repeat all of the emergency information again.

All of this takes time, too much time. Fortunately each city has a seven digit emergency line that cell phone users can call to report their emergency. Each city has one and you are strongly encouraged to place one or more of the numbers, listed below, in the speed dial of your cell phone. Easy, no committing to memory, no busy signal, no transferred call. Fast reliable service, just what we are all looking for.