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When an SOS is initiated, and is cancelled before the countdown finishes, are emergency services still sent some sort of notification?

I have an iPhone 14.


The published information from the apple website (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208076) says:


1) "When Call with 5 Button Presses is turned on and you try to make an emergency call, your iPhone begins a countdown and sounds an alert. After the countdown ends, your iPhone automatically calls emergency services."


2) "If you start the countdown by accident, you can cancel. On iPhone 8 or later, release the side button and volume button before the countdown ends."


This makes it seem as though emergency services are not notified if I cancel the SOS before the countdown finishes.


When I accidentally initiate an emergency SOS (usually via the Call with 5 Button Presses functionality) and press cancel before the countdown finishes, I still later receive a notification that says "iPhone Initiated Emergency SOS at..." This makes it seem as though something still was externally sent to someone despite my having canceled the countdown; like some sort of non-text, non-call notification.


Additionally, in the past, I remember that I cancelled a countdown before it finished, but the day after, I received a call from a personal number I didn't recognize telling me that I had triggered an emergency SOS and they asked if I was in a safe place, etc. Based on that memory, it seems that, while cancelling before the countdown finishes does prevent a call, it does not prevent a notification to emergency services. It is worth noting that this has only occured once. I have accidentally triggered the emergency SOS a few times since then, and I have not received any such calls checking in on me after those cancelations.


So, with all that said, here is my question:


Would emergency services still be notified in any way if an SOS had been initiated, even if the SOS was cancelled before the countdown finished?

iPhone 14

Posted on May 31, 2023 6:20 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 31, 2023 6:32 PM

T-Money_Mayhem Said:

"So, with all that said, here is my question: Would emergency services still be notified in any way if an SOS had been initiated, even if the SOS was cancelled before the countdown finished?"

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Yes. They will be notified. But, to just cancel it, simply reply back with a message reading "pocket tap". All is fine from there.

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 31, 2023 6:32 PM in response to T-Money_Mayhem

T-Money_Mayhem Said:

"So, with all that said, here is my question: Would emergency services still be notified in any way if an SOS had been initiated, even if the SOS was cancelled before the countdown finished?"

-------


Yes. They will be notified. But, to just cancel it, simply reply back with a message reading "pocket tap". All is fine from there.

Feb 25, 2024 12:49 PM in response to nikkita144

nikkita144 wrote:

What if we hung up seven seconds into the accidental call?


That would best be fodder for a discussion with your carrier, as a starting point.


Maybe then with whoever administers the emergency communications center, too.


With the US E911 emergency systems I’m familiar with, I’d expect that call to register as a hang-up.


What local policies are with those?

Jan 16, 2024 11:50 AM in response to Tuffcookie

Tuffcookie wrote:

How can I get rid of this notification on my iphone? It is always there when my phone is turned on.


Please try a forced restart: Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

Hold the third button press until the Apple logo appears, continuing to hold past any sliders that might appear.


If you're not running iOS 17.2.1, try an update.


Failing that restart and that update, please start your own thread for this question (as this appears to be a different question), and please include which iPhone model, which iOS version if not 17.2.1, and that you've already tried a restart.


When an SOS is initiated, and is cancelled before the countdown finishes, are emergency services still sent some sort of notification?

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