Cell Phone Tips in an Emergency

Does 911 work on a disconnected cell phone?
Can a disconnected cell phone call 911?

Yes! Disconnected cell phones that are charged are still able to dial 9-1-1. If you do not pay for cell phone service, but have an old phone, you can keep it with you in case you need to use it to report an emergency situation on 9-1-1.

How can you make emergency calls without signal?

Even when you have barely any signal, you may notice "SOS Only" or some similar message on your phone - At this moment you don't have enough signal strength to make a normal telephone call but if you were to call the Emergency Services, your service provider will 'drop' other calls that are taking place to enable your cell phone to connect to 9-1-1.

Any Mobile Phone Can Call 911. 

Unless a mobile phone's battery is dead or the user is completely outside every wireless carrier's service area, that phone can dial 9-1-1. No service plan is needed.

What Does SOS Mean on iPhone Status Bar

If the SOS icon appears on the status bar of your iPhone, it means that your iPhone has a poor cellular connection. There is no Internet connection on your iPhone. At this time, you can only make emergency calls. This is to ensure your safety. When your phone is not connected to the Internet, you cannot make calls or send messages, nor can you use functions that require real-time online browsing such as web browsing.

SOS is most likely to occur if you are in areas such as elevators, garages, and basements, or there is a power outage and no cellular service.

TIPS:

Keep your mobile phone battery charged and have a spare portable charger available.

Keep a dead phone charged in order to be able to use 9-1-1 if you need to. Landlines that use VOIP (voice over internet protocol) such as Telus Fibre Optik will not work if there is a power outage. No power = no internet.

The Telus trailer at the Capernwray corner has a small battery bank to keep the Fibre Optik system running. Depending upon how many people are drawing on the battery bank and for how long, the batteries will last only about 8 hours before Telus has to haul their charger trailer by pickup truck to Thetis Island to recharge. The recharge takes about 8 hours and then the WiFi system will work again for another short period. We understand that there is only one Telus charging trailer for southern Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands and they have to travel around to service the Telus Trailers in the small communities during power outages.

Thetis Island Volunteer Fire Department
& Fire Chief Jeannine Caldbeck