False smart-device alerts challenge emergency services in Lapland

Automatic emergency alerts from smart devices are becoming more common in Finland, and many are false, Yle reports. In Lapland, long distances mean a rescue unit could travel hundreds of kilometres unnecessarily, potentially delaying a response to a genuine emergency.

Most false alerts are triggered when a smartphone falls from the roof of a car. In remote parts of Lapland, the only available rescue unit may be sent to investigate, even though it could be the region’s sole unit and have to travel hundreds of kilometres.

“At worst, handling an urgent task could be delayed,” said Ville Rankinen, a duty fire chief with the Lapland Rescue Department.

“We always try to dispatch the next closest unit to the incident. Further north, it can be as much as 100 kilometres away,” he said.

Alerts are spreading to more devices

The Emergency Response Centre Agency says automatic alerts from smart devices have increased steadily in Finland over roughly the past four years. There are now 300 to 500 such emergency alerts each year, most of them unnecessary, compared with about three million emergency calls overall during the same period.

Tommi Hopearuoho, development manager at the Emergency Response Centre Agency, said the trend could create wider challenges for authorities as more devices gain alert functions.

“When sensors are added to smart clothing, for example, the broader challenge will be deciding what to do with automatic alerts,” Hopearuoho said.

New updates have brought crash detection to an increasing number of smartphones and smartwatches. Similar functions could eventually be added to clothing and other devices.

Tourism could increase the pressure

The Lapland Rescue Department receives a few false smart-device alerts each month and has so far avoided serious problems. However, the situation could change easily in the heavily visited region.

“There were millions of overnight stays by tourists in Lapland last year, so this is beginning to show up here as well,” Rankinen said.

The rescue department tries to check all automatic alerts. Sometimes it decides not to send a unit if it can contact the location and confirm that the alert was false.

Some alerts are screened out by emergency centres. A crash alert from a smartphone at Linnanmäki, for example, would not automatically trigger a fire department response. In a remote area with no other traffic, authorities are more likely to dispatch a unit, Hopearuoho said.

Rescue departments in North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu told Yle they were not concerned about the phenomenon. North Ostrobothnia receives automatic alerts weekly, but they have not strained operations. The individual alerts received by the Kainuu Rescue Department are usually genuine.

Smart devices generally warn users before placing an emergency call, allowing them to cancel it. Users are advised to contact the emergency centre if an alert was sent by mistake. Authorities may also try to call back after an alert from a smartphone. Crash-alert settings should be checked on the device, and cars may also have an automatic eCall function for collisions.

The alerts can also be useful. For example, a mountain biker who falls in a wilderness area may receive help through an automatic call.