National concern
In the present, simple acts such as ordering a pizza or purchasing the next best-selling novel are made seamless through location-based software.
But while most of the world has shifted its partnership to reliable information technology, many of the men and women who can save your life have not.
“An estimated 240 million calls are made to 911 in the United States each year,” according to the National Emergency Number Association, and 70 percent of those calls are made using wireless devices.
Because of this shift, the country is now faced with outdated technology that decreases the chances of emergency responders successfully locating individuals facing potentially life-threatening circumstances.
Last November, Tom Wheeler, the current chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said in a The New York Times column that, in 1999, Congress “called for a system that would use the best technology available to deliver emergency assistance.”
Yet nearly two decades later, the problem is still a national health and safety concern.
Most 911 call centers nationally still cannot receive text messages, photos or videos from individuals, even though most callers using wireless devices to request help possess smartphones that already have these capabilities.
The technology is available; the question is whether or not it will be used in the near future.
The TV show “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” published a video May 15 further detailing the shortcomings of the 911 operating system. Like Wheeler suggested, due to business influences, broadband networks have become the standard in everything except the emergency service department.
Age-old telephone technologies are not being supported by commercial operations because they are prone to failure, Wheeler said, so they should not be supported by the services built to save lives, either.
In the few cases where new-age technology has come into play, there is anecdotal evidence to suggest dispatchers, law enforcement and medics would benefit from the additional support, a win-win for all parties involved.
Change awaits
On May 2, in Lake County, Indiana, new legislation was passed to introduce text messaged 911 inquiries to residents, according to The Times of Northwest Indiana. In that article, the director of the county’s new service said the changes would assist people who have hearing and speech impairments or are in circumstances that prevent them from making a traditional voice call.
“When it comes to 911, we always prefer the voice call,” Brian Hitchcock, the director of Lake County’s emergency services, said. “But if somebody broke into your house and you are hiding in your closet, you can text.”
That article also stated the county will be adding translated text capabilities for nearly 200 languages through Voiance Language Services located in Tucson, Arizona.
In a different case, EMS1 reported a story in April where text messaging likely saved someone’s life in Bartholomew County, according to authorities. The dispatcher, Dylan Prather, texted with a domestic battery victim whose partner had a firearm.
Bartholomew Co 911: “This is 911… is everything okay?”
Victim: “He put the gun down but I don’t think he’s stable.”
Bartholomew Co 911: “Are you able to talk?”
Victim: “No”
Bartholomew Co 911: “What is name? And what kind of gun?”
Victim: “Joshua Hehman. 12 g shotgun…. he is still saying he is going to kill me”
TEXTS RETRIEVED FROM FOX59
Prather told EMS1 the victim was able to text key information, such as her exact address, and officers later arrived in time to prevent further injuries to the woman and her 3-year-old child. Joshua Hehman, 32, was arrested on a preliminary charge of domestic battery in the presence of a minor.
Ed Reuter, the Bartholomew County Emergency Communications Director, said most Hoosiers are not aware that texting 911 may be available to them. Nonetheless, in larger counties, like Marion County, the volume of 911 text messages has increased since the start of the program in October 2015.
Katie Carlson, a spokeswoman for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, said their 911 response team received approximately 2,300 texts from Jan. 1–May 31, an average of 460 texts each month.
Before the text messaging service was introduced, Lt. Col. Joseph McAtee, commander of the communications division for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, said around 400 people each month had been trying to text 911 in Marion County before the service was up and running.
In the end, state officials and emergency directors said a voice call is still the preferred option. When compared to the 2,300 total texts sent to 911 operators in Marion County this year, an average of 83,000 calls each month were made to the service.
SIDEBAR
The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) will host a conference from June 11–16 in Indianapolis to discuss public safety issues, caller location accuracy, texting 911 and the ongoing transition to digital and multimedia technologies.
Highlights from the conference schedule include the Run for 9-1-1 Charity 5K Run/Walk.
For more, visit their website for the full schedule.
