CLAIMS HAVE CIRCULATED online which claim that dialing 55 during a 999 emergency call is a code that tells an operator that you cannot speak and sends your location to emergency services.

The claims have spread in some Irish groups on social media sites such as Facebook.

“If you ever find yourself dialling 999 and you can’t speak press 55 and they can track where you are from dialling location – new technology” [sic] a post reads. “Pass it on, it may save a life.”

However, this won’t happen in Ireland.

“Dialling 55 while on an emergency call does not trigger an action”, the Garda Press Office told The Journal. “An Garda Síochána, with the Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) have a protocol in place for handling ‘silent’ calls.”

The ECAS, which is operated by telecoms company BT, initially answers any emergency calls before connecting them with the required emergency services.

“If a person dials 999/112 in the Republic of Ireland but cannot speak, the Emergency Call Answering Service operator will ask specifically on a silent call: ‘If you are unable to speak but need an emergency service, please tap the handset screen’,” a spokesperson for BT told The Journal.

“Any form of response including tapping the phone or pressing buttons on the keypad to this question will prompt the Emergency Call Answering Service operator to connect the call to An Garda Síochána.

“People who call the emergency services but cannot speak can also make multiple calls in a short period and the Emergency Call Answering Service operator will connect the third call to An Garda Síochána.

“A person can also use SMS to text 112 in an emergency situation if they cannot speak,” the spokesperson said.

While pressing 55 during an emergency call in the United Kingdom does alert the operator that the caller is unable to speak – referred to as the “silent solution” – it does not allow the police to track the caller’s location or automatically send police to the location, according to a factcheck by Reuters.

“Most mobile emergency calls now include usable location information which can assist the Emergency Services in identifying the caller’s location,” a spokesperson for BT said.

“The caller does not need to tap or press a button for their location to be shared.”

Such a call would be forwarded to the Garda Communications Centre for the area where the person is calling from, where call takers are “trained to follow procedure by assessing the situation and interacting with the potential silent caller on the line,” the Garda Press Office said.

“About 450 and 500 silent calls are directed to Garda Communications Centres each week.”

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