90% Of Wireless 9-1-1 Calls Lack Accurate Caller Location Info

[HardOCP News]

Well, this is reassuring. If you've fallen and you can't get up, you better dial 9-1-1 from your landline.

New data obtained from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show that nine out of ten wireless 9-1-1 calls made in D.C. in the first half of 2013 were delivered without the accurate location information needed to find callers who are lost, confused, unconscious or otherwise unable to share their location.

 

[tunatime]

really the 1 time you want the government to track your phone they cant?

 

[hurleybird]

Speaking as someone in the field, it's not quite so bad here in Alberta. About half the time the cell phone gives us a pretty accurate fix, a quarter of the time it's enough to get us heading in the right direction, and a quarter of the time the uncertainty is too great to do much of anything with.

Land lines are almost always accurate, so if one is available you should use one to guarantee a quick and accurate response. VOIP phones though are the worst. If you don't have it set up correctly you end up connected to the wrong call center entirely, which naturally causes a significant delay.

 

[Semantics]

really the 1 time you want the government to track your phone they cant?

Tin foil hats too effective.

 

[sfsuphysics]

How many of those 9 calls are REALLY emergencies that require emergency services as opposed to someones delusion of "emergency".

 

[Trigger]

"Can you send out a squad car right away, there's a guy on a beach taking pictures of people using a camera drone!"

 

[BladeVenom]

If phones can't reach a satellite indoors, then they should remember the last location where they could get GPS information. That should get them the front porch.

Maybe when 911 is called phones should also send out a bluetooth emergency signal, So emergency responders can zero in on the exact location when they get nearby.

 

[Spidey329]

If phones can't reach a satellite indoors, then they should remember the last location where they could get GPS information. That should get them the front porch.

Maybe when 911 is called phones should also send out a bluetooth emergency signal, So emergency responders can zero in on the exact location when they get nearby.

MIT (Iirc) is working on swarm robots that home in on radio signals for emergency situations.

 

[Tudz]

How many of those 9 calls are REALLY emergencies that require emergency services as opposed to someones delusion of "emergency".

That's not really relevant to the accuracy of the location info.

 

[sfsuphysics]

That's not really relevant to the accuracy of the location info.

Actually it's relevant to get an idea of how many emergencies ended in "disaster" due to lack of location, i.e. someone actually dying or the like not someone who got locked out of their car after a night of drinking.

 

[Semantics]

Actually it's relevant to get an idea of how many emergencies ended in "disaster" due to lack of location, i.e. someone actually dying or the like not someone who got locked out of their car after a night of drinking.

Considering the vast majority of 911 calls are non-emergencies or repeats of the same emergency probably only a few ended poorly due to the lack of rapid response. Mostly you're talking about medical emergencies, as most crime related emergencies 911 doesn't reduce or stop most of those crimes they just take up resources. Infact the large amount of 911 calls that aren't perdentiant can often burry actual emergencies 911 could help with.

Even with implementation of 311 non-emergency but might need police work only removes part of the abuse of the system. Still not account for misdials, pranks, people who abuse the service flat out using it like 411 information, lonely people etc.

 

[Ryokurin]

If phones can't reach a satellite indoors, then they should remember the last location where they could get GPS information. That should get them the front porch.

Maybe when 911 is called phones should also send out a bluetooth emergency signal, So emergency responders can zero in on the exact location when they get nearby.

Under perfect conditions Bluetooth may can reach out a football field in length but in practice you'll get about 30 feet distance. Good idea, but not practical.

Also, caching info can still be inaccurate. For example, Google Now is now keeping track of where you park by detecting when you are driving or walking. Yesterday I stopped at a grocery store about a mile and a half from my house and then went home. A few hours later I check GN and it still think's that I'm at the store, likely because I didn't go fast enough for the software to realize I had left.

 

[username00]

If phones can't reach a satellite indoors, then they should remember the last location where they could get GPS information. That should get them the front porch.

Maybe when 911 is called phones should also send out a bluetooth emergency signal, So emergency responders can zero in on the exact location when they get nearby.

Almost a good idea. Except that I know my phone doesn't run GPS tracking 24/7, so it's last GPS lock is likely to point a few hundred miles away. No one's phone should be GPS monitoring 24/7.