Awards

This was a part of a previous post, but I thought it deserved a place of it's own:

A co-worker and I were invited to be a part of an awards ceremony recently.

A 5 year old called 911 to get help for his mother who was trapped between the garage door and the garage. He was given a "Hero" award by the City, the responding fire department and the 911 Center (where I work).

My co-worker handled the 911 call and I dispatched the fire department. It was pretty cool. He was pretty overwhelmed by the whole thing. But his parents, grandparents and the whole community were proud of him and wanted him to know what a good thing he did.

Here's what I would like the everyone to know about this deal: Always use your HOME phone to call 911.

We were able to get his mother life-saving help very quickly because he called from his home, not a cell phone and we knew EXACTLY where they were immediately. If he had used a cell phone, we would not have had the exact location. If he had used a voice over internet phone (VOIP) we may not have had his exact location as quickly. Always use a land line phone to call 911 if you can. The life you save could be your own.

Some VOIP carriers are doing a great job, but you need to test your phone. Call your local law enforcement dispatch center, ask them if you can do a test call and then do a test call, ask them what address shows. If it doesn't show your address, call your carrier. Make sure its working.

Cell phone companies are working on it. Right now in my area, we can do a "re-transmit" to get a location but its not the EXACT location and it takes about 10-15 seconds so if the line is disconnected then we may not get anything. Then it shows a location within about a block, which is okay, but not if there are 3 apartment complexes in that block. And if the phone isn't "phase 2" or the carriers in your area aren't "phase 2" then the 911 center isn't going to get your location.