Hit your phone's SOS button by accident? Here’s what to do if you call 911 services without meaning to

Nothing will make your heart stop quicker than realizing you just accidentally dialed 911, a mistake quite a bit of us have made in our lifetime.

It has been ingrained into our minds since its introduction in 1968 that a call to 911 uses follows with police cars, firetrucks and ambulances eager to help us with our emergency.

But what if they show up to no emergency at all? Can a caller properly explain themselves in time to a dispatcher or are there consequences that follow?

First of all, how often do people accidentally call 911?

The Individual 911 Public Safety Answering Points have previously estimated that between 25% and 70% of their wireless calls are unintentional, clogging up their phone lines and risking their ability to respond to real emergencies.

What happens if I accidentally press emergency SOS on my phone?

If you accidentally do activate your phone's SOS feature or your child decides to practice their new phone skills, 911.Gov gives callers one critical tip — do not hang up.

"If you dial 911 by mistake, or if a child in your home dials 911 when no emergency exists, do not hang up – that could make 911 officials think that an emergency exists, and possibly send responders to your location. Instead, simply explain to the call-taker what happened."

But what happens if I accidentally call 911 and hang up?

If you do hang up before speaking with a call taker, officials online say that an attempt will be made to call your telephone number back to make sure everything is OK and that there is no emergency. You can clarify during this time that you're fine.

If you miss their follow-up call, call their non-emergency line back and explain what happened to the dispatcher.

Can 911 track your location?

They can but it doesn't always come through.

A USA TODAY report explains that while most phones have GPS, voice calls often rely on location data being sent via the cellphone network and their towers. This can mean long delays in providing a 911 call center location data, or even no location data at all.

“Today's cell phone system does not automatically send location data when you dial 911. After the call comes in, the dispatcher's computer transmits a digital request to the cellphone network seeking the phone's location. The data exchange can take seconds or even minutes. Sometimes, it doesn't return a location at all."

Does 911 send police if you hang up?

If you hang up during a 911, they will call you back and will potentially send a police officer to your location.

Will I be charged if I accidentally call 911?

On top of the embarrassment for accidentally dialing 911, many believe they'll be charged for the mistaken call.

National Emergency Number Association officials stress that because accidental calls happen on occasion, there is no penalty for placing an accidental call.

How do I disable safety features on my phone?

Before you actually do switch the feature, make sure that's something you actually want to do. You never know when a real emergency will come up.

However if you're consistently accidentally making emergency calls on your iPhone, you can turn off the shortcut buttons by disabling the shortcut buttons for emergency SOS in "Settings > Emergency SOS" and toggling off both "Call with" switches.

As for Android, you can turn off the feature by opening your settings page, selecting "Safety & emergency" > "Emergency SOS" > toggle off "Use Emergency SOS."

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: What happens if you accidentally call 911 when there is no emergency