Emergency 911 ? Not So Fast from Cell Phones

Only 19 percent of 911 dispatch centers report “a great deal” of confidence in the location data they receive from wireless phones, according to a recent survey by a the FineMe911 coalition. The group surveyed more than 1,000 E911 dispatch centers across the country.

The problems are particularly troubling since more than 70 percent of emergency calls come from a cell phone and 64 percent of those are placed indoors, according to survey respondents. Current E911 technology doesn’t pinpoint the exact location of a wireless caller who is inside a building.

The FindMe 911 report includes many stories of life-threatening delays in locating wireless 911 callers. In Colorado, for example, a woman who was choking on her own blood died because she couldn’t tell the dispatcher where she was. The 911 center was able to locate the cell tower transmitting her signal, but couldn’t find her exact location in time to save her life.

The Federal Communications Commission is considering tighter rules to improve location accuracy for cell phone 911 calls.

PSAP Survey on Wireless 9-1-1 Location Accuracy (Findme911, Apr. 2014)

A survey of 911 dispatchers reveals the horrible, human cost of bad technology (Washington Post, Apr. 24, 2014)