Idahoans are asking Android phones to call an ambulance. What they’re getting isn’t 911

HEY SIRI, OK GOOGLE: CALL AN AMBULANCE

When an iPhone user tells Siri, “Call an ambulance,” the phone begins to dial 911, with an option to cancel the call if it was a mistake.

But when some Android phones are given that voice command, they pull up a list of ambulance companies. In the Boise area, Injury Care is the first company in that list.

An Idaho Statesman reporter asked an Android phone to “call an ambulance.” Instead of dialing 9-1-1, the phone provided this list of private ambulance companies, which do not respond to typical medical emergencies.

The Statesman confirmed that Android users in other parts of the country get a similar list when they ask their phones to call an ambulance. (Some Android and Google phones respond with Google search results, such as a blog post on when it’s appropriate to call an ambulance.)  For more on this story, select the link below!

Idaho Statesman: Need 911 in Idaho? Don’t ask Google/Android to Call an Ambulance

Story credit:  Audrey Dutton, Idaho Statesman

Video Credit:  Katherine Jones, Idaho Statesman

*correction – Our Community Liason is Zach Wright… but we’ll call him Rich from now on. 🙂