cell phones & 911

[gunsmith]

it is important to know the direct phone number
of the emergency dispatch. for instance in SF,CA if
you call 911 from a cell phone you get Highway Patrol
30 or 40 miles away...could cause a delay in response time...
every local PD (I think) probably has a # you can call from your cell
I deciced to post this after reading the "what would you do"
post. if you dont know your emergency # you might consider using a store as land lines go direct to local PD when 911 dialed

 

[Art Eatman]

Hey, thanx!

Art

 

[garrettwc]

Had the same problem a couple of years ago. Got into an accident, dialed 911, got some central emergency routing service in California. (You will note from my member info I am in Indiana! )

Turns out the phone number that used to be the central alarm number we called before 911 is still active and rings to the dispatch center. I reprogrammed all the familys cell phones to that number for 911.

You would think that a service that could identify immediately when you were out of your home area (and bill accordingly) could switch you to the correct 911 land line for the area you are in. Regardless of where you are.

 

[shooten]

New phones are mandated to have e911 location determination. The company I work for has a hand in the technology that makes it happen. It uses GPS and the cell network to figure out where you are to within a certain distance. It was worth the cost of a new phone for me now that they're out there.

Scott

 

[hso]

If you are in a state border area, say tristate NW KY, you may get any number of 911 services. A variation on this can happen on government facilities as well. I advise all of our teams performing environmental work in the field to identify the direct EMS dialup number and use it instead of 911 when in that type of environment.

 

[themic]

called 911 with my new cell phone to call in a car accident i saw... with a dc number and in alrington county, it got fairfax county's dispatch, which was pretty good... good enough at least for the lady on the phone to recognize the address and patch in an arlington person all within about the first 10-15 seconds. i was seriously impressed.

my phone has the gps in it but for battery life it's set to only be on when i dial 911... not good enough to turn it on and get a position solution in the couple of seconds it takes to connect. it must have worked off of whatever cell phone tower i was on.

 

[Smoke]

Out here in the sticks the cell phone number you get is for the nearest major metropolitan area. In my case 45 miles away.

I have heard repeatedly that if you dial 911 on these phones you get the major metropolitan area.

No experience in it myself.

 

[Preacherman]

I've had to dial 911 three times via cellphone, and on each occasion got through to a 911 call center in the city where my telephone number is based - even though that city was several dozen miles away, each time I called! If the new phones will automatically link you to the nearest 911 call center, I've gotta upgrade...

The city center was able to transfer my call to the local parish (county) 911 center each time, but it took a minute or two, and that kind of delay can be life-threatening under the wrong circumstances.

Another factor to consider is that if you're on rural roads (not interstates), the cellular towers are few and far between in many areas. You may not have great signal strength. For instance, when I drive between the city where I live and another city about 50 miles north-west of me, I'm out of cellphone reach for at least 25-30 of those miles. NOT good if I need to contact 911 in a hurry...

 

[Billy Sparks]

When dialing 911 with a cell phone all bets are off. Once I witnessed a wreck not having my squad walkie I dialed 911, keep in mind I was in medium sized city. I got the 911 center for the rural county one county to the north of me. "Your where?" "You have what?"

 

[Double Naught Spy]

One of the big advantages of the 911 system was to allow folks the ability to call for help without the need for having to look up a phone number. This had been a very serious problem for folks who lived in one area handled by one set of emergency services and then worked in another area. It was also problematic for those who travel.

No doubt it is a good idea to know the # of the local emergency services and you can have that information programmed in your phone already. You simply need to scroll through the phone until you come to the correct agency you want to reach. The real problem then becomes calling the right agency. For example, I just live about 45 minutes away from Dallas. Going in to work in Dallas puts me traveling through at least 6 jurisdictions, 9 if I take the back roads in. Calling direct to the appropriate agency is going to be a difficult job as I don't always know specifically whose jurisdiction I am in. Calling the wrong agency directly doesn't help too much over 911.

When I have been traveling and had to use 911, I have found that I did not get the immediately local folks, but the 911 folks, after querying me as to my location, simply transferred me to the correct people, no problem.

 

[10-Ring]

Well, on my cell phone I have 911 on one of my emergency speed dials. I figured that since I'm on the freeway most of the time anyway, notifying the CHP is perfect. When I'm back home, I also have pre-programmed my local sheriff's emergency number.

 

[BerettaNut92]

10-ring, aren't I on your speed dial? CHP sends what, one guy with an SW auto?

Skunkabilly is a force multiplier.

 

[7677]

About three weeks ago, I was side swipped by DUI in my unmarked unit. The guy decided to flee the scene of the accident when I hit my emergency lights. While chasing this guy through the traffic made it hard enough to dial just 911. The first department I got was not the right one but it only took and few seconds for the dispatcher to patch me throught to the right agency. In the end, backup finally caught up and we caught the guy.

 

[Jeff White]

Only one problem with this. In many areas where they have enhanced 911, ALL of the dispatching is done from one or maybe two central dispatch centers. If you call the PD or FD direct you may get a recording instructing you to hang up and dial 911 if you have an emergency. Then you will get a menu of the various offices in the department. In many cases they people in the police station will have no way to transfer your call to the 911 center. They may not have a way to contact the patrol units by radio from where they are at.

Jeff

 

[Jeff White]

Erick,
The move here is to consolidate all dispatch into regional centers. Where I live there are two 911 dispatch centers. All the fire and EMS is dispatched from there. Police 911 calls are transferred to the appropriate agency, but that will most likely change in the next couple years, with all dispatching being done by the 911 center. It's another layer of bureaucracy IMHO. In the state capitol it's already that way.

Jeff

 

[Billy Sparks]

In my county we have no less than 4 comm centers. 911 calls inside the city of Winston-Salem go to WSPD 911 if it is a police or fire matter inside the city they take the info. Medical calls gets transferred to county fire comm center. Outside the city, county fire gets it and then transfers it to either Kernersville or to the SO. It is a wonder with get to the scene on the same day that the call was made.

 

[DrPsycho]

If you're on a cell phone, try dialing 112 instead. It's the international number for distress/emergencies from mobile (aka cell) phones.

911 isn't of any use outside of the 1 country.

 

[DingoDog]

911 in Northern WA state

Had a story on the news last year about a guy who was in an auto accident in Snohomish County in Washington State. He dialed 911 from a cell phone and it was routed to Canada, who said they couldn't help him and couldn't contact anyone in the US.

I'll see if I can find an archive of the story.