Considering the amount of poisonous substances in this world, which can range from mundane things like nail polish to unlikely things like house plants, it’s pretty important to be able to call Poison Control if you’re exposed to something potentially toxic. Unfortunately, if you’re a Google Fi user, that might not be possible right now.
According to a report by 9to5Google, some Google Fi users reportedly aren’t able to get their calls through to the Poison Control hotline—officially referred to as the Poison help line—and receive a message that says, “Your call cannot be completed as dialed.” Users then receive instructions on how to get in touch with Google Fi’s customer support. 9to5Google states that this problem has been going on for a few months, citing various threads of users not able to get through on Reddit as well as some troubling experiences.
“Had the same fucking issue a couple months ago when my daughter was sick and managed to take the baby safe top off the infant [ibuprofen]. Had to call support answer a bunch of questions they must have flipped some switch while I was bitching because I hung up and tried again and it worked….” a user wrote in late July.
Nonetheless, not all users on Reddit expressed having trouble getting through to the Poison help line. Those who were affected were spread out across the country and used both Android and iOS.
The Poison help line is a free federal service that connects U.S. residents to local poison centers in case of an emergency and allows them to talk to pharmacists, nurses, doctors, or other poison experts. These experts will then proceed to tell you what to do and whether you need to seek additional assistance.
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The Health Resources and Services Administration, which oversees the program, explains that frequent callers include people taking care of young children. However, the agency maintains that poisoning can happen to anyone, pointing out that most deaths from poisoning occur in adults.
Google told 9to5Google that it was aware of the issue and is investigating.
Gizmodo reached out to Google to confirm the report and ask for comment, but we did not hear back by the time of publication. We’ll make sure to update this blog if we do.
