B.C. RCMP ask skiers to turn off smart watch setting after false 911 calls

Winter sports enthusiasts are being asked to turn off a setting on their smartwatches, as B.C. Mounties say police have received a number of false 911 calls.

Kelowna RCMP says officers, along with other emergency service responders, went to six separate false 911 calls already this ski season.

Mounties say the calls came as a result of the “SOS function” on smartwatches being turned on, and then owners not realizing it.

“When a skier or snowboard falls wearing their smartwatch, the built-in SOS function contacts the RCMP and emergency services as if the person was at home and fell or if they were involved in a vehicle collision,” a news release from the RCMP explained.

Related Articles: 

• Don’t hang up on accidental 911 calls: Comox RCMP

• Reasons not to dial 911 as call taking service releases annual nuisance calls

The latest incident happened on Wednesday when a watch was activated and indicated a crash had happened.

Police say there was no callback number sent with the crash notification, just the location of a local ski resort. Officers were then sent out to the area, but weren’t successful in finding the source — something that police say caused an “unnecessary emergency response.”

People wearing the watches may not realize the feature is functioning, and the RCMP is asking athletes to make sure to temporarily turn off the setting.

“The RCMP is asking that smartwatch users go to settings within the watch, go to SOS and temporarily turn off “Fall Detection” when on the ski hills or doing other sporting activities,” the release added.

“Kelowna RCMP respond to all calls but this potentially could cause police, fire or ambulance the inability to respond to a real emergency in a timely manner,” Cst. Mike Della-Paolera added.