COASTGUARDS have urged people to use their common sense before calling after a man rang 999 – because he’d dropped his iPhone at the seaside.

The caller contacted Portland Coastguard on the emergency line after his phone slipped between rocks on a groyne on Sandbanks Beach in Poole.

Incredibly he expected assistance from the lifesaving emergency service to retrieve it.

Watch assistant Steve George took the call just after 1.30pm on Sunday.

He told the Echo: “The call came in on the triple nine line so red lights flashed around the room and we were all braced and prepared for an emergency.

“The man gave his position and said he was on the beach with the groyne in front of him.

I was waiting to hear if he had his arm or his leg stuck or something like that – but it turned out the iPhone had gone down in between the rocks and he required assistance to retrieve it.

“There was a short pause and politely I informed him that we wouldn’t be able to help.”

He added: “We are an emergency service to help the public when lives are at risk.

“We were sat waiting, ready to send out the lifeboats or the helicopter, and it was just a chap who’d lost his phone.”

He said the caller had him on the phone for several minutes and he was typing up a log of the call until the nature of the request became clear.

He added: “If there had been a genuine emergency that would have taken it away from it.

“People have got to think like that – it may be serious to them – but there may be a real emergency happening.”

He added: “Luckily we don’t get calls of that nature very often.”

He still urged people to call the coastguard if they felt something was wrong, adding: “We’re always here to help.

“We don’t want people to be put off calling, but we would ask them to use their common sense and have some consideration.”

The coastguard and his colleagues recalled a handful of similar such 999 calls they’d received in the past including a man who wanted to know if hair removal cream was good for a jellyfish stings, and a caller who rang from inland after a bird got stuck in some chicken wire –and explained he’d rung the coastguard because it was a seagull.

AMBULANCE chiefs are also urging the public to think carefully before dialling after a recent rise in 999 calls.

The South West Ambulance Service has called for people to make sure they are using the right NHS service in a bid to cut the number of non-emergency calls it receives.

A spokesman said: “The ambulance service should only be used for emergency situations.
“Examples include choking, chest pain, stroke, serious blood loss and unconsciousness.

“Using the ambulance service only to tend to the critically ill and injured helps ensure a quick response to those in genuine need.”

The trust is highlighting its message of “Right Care at the Right Time in the Right Place” by flagging up alternative healthcare options for less serious conditions including minor injuries units and NHS walk-in centres, GPs, pharmacies and NHS direct.

The message is also being reiterated with the wider Choose Well campaign across the NHS urging people to choose the most appropriate NHS service to their needs.
For more information visit choosewell.org.uk