If you think help is on the way when you call 911 from your cell phone, think again. Many phones don't tell dispatchers where you're calling from and that makes it hard for help to get to you.
This can be a big problem for police, firefighters, paramedics. A call comes in for an emergency but they have no idea where to go. Nearly everyone has a cell phone. But is you used it to call 911 would police or firefighters be able to find you?
The answer is, maybe not. Because mobile phones are, well, mobile and the call could be coming from anywhere.
Sean Collins of the Kern Co. Fire Department, "It is very difficult, at this time, to know exactly where a caller is from. When the call comes in on a land line, emergency dispatchers can automatically track it back to a specific address. But when the call comes in on a cell phone, often times they have to rely on a caller that may be panicked and scared."
And if they're too shaken to give details, dispatchers are left guessing.
It happened this week in Taft. Someone called 911 from their cell phone to report a fire, but the phone couldn't give specific details about the location.
As a result, three people were forced to jump from the second story of a burning building.
Sean Collins, "If we do not know that address explicitly, we then have to wait for another caller or try to keep calling back the cell phone user, *if* we get there telephone number."
But they don't, they have to rely on information from the cellular provider and some are better than others.
Elizabeth Trujillo of J's Communication, "It just depends on whether the provider has something enabled on the phone that way."
For example, Sprint and Verizon use global positioning satellites to locate callers which can pinpoint a location.
Other companies like AT&T and T-Mobile use their cell towers which only give a general location. But neither way gives a specific address.
And in an emergency where time is critical, a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death.
We can only respond to what we know. Obviously we cannot determine or make things up or assume.
If you want to know if a 911 call can be traced back to your phone, take a look at the settings.
Look for something that says, "GPS" or "Location".
If you still can't figure it out call your wireless service provider.
Source
This can be a big problem for police, firefighters, paramedics. A call comes in for an emergency but they have no idea where to go. Nearly everyone has a cell phone. But is you used it to call 911 would police or firefighters be able to find you?
The answer is, maybe not. Because mobile phones are, well, mobile and the call could be coming from anywhere.
Sean Collins of the Kern Co. Fire Department, "It is very difficult, at this time, to know exactly where a caller is from. When the call comes in on a land line, emergency dispatchers can automatically track it back to a specific address. But when the call comes in on a cell phone, often times they have to rely on a caller that may be panicked and scared."
And if they're too shaken to give details, dispatchers are left guessing.
It happened this week in Taft. Someone called 911 from their cell phone to report a fire, but the phone couldn't give specific details about the location.
As a result, three people were forced to jump from the second story of a burning building.
Sean Collins, "If we do not know that address explicitly, we then have to wait for another caller or try to keep calling back the cell phone user, *if* we get there telephone number."
But they don't, they have to rely on information from the cellular provider and some are better than others.
Elizabeth Trujillo of J's Communication, "It just depends on whether the provider has something enabled on the phone that way."
For example, Sprint and Verizon use global positioning satellites to locate callers which can pinpoint a location.
Other companies like AT&T and T-Mobile use their cell towers which only give a general location. But neither way gives a specific address.
And in an emergency where time is critical, a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death.
We can only respond to what we know. Obviously we cannot determine or make things up or assume.
If you want to know if a 911 call can be traced back to your phone, take a look at the settings.
Look for something that says, "GPS" or "Location".
If you still can't figure it out call your wireless service provider.
Source
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