Based on information from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a national public safety coalition estimates that 1,227 lives could be saved each year in California if cell phone carriers had to quickly share accurate location data for 9-1-1 callers with emergency responders. The FCC is considering a rule that would close a loophole and require cell phone carriers to implement technology to help find most indoor callers within the next two years.
“Lost time searching for 9-1-1 callers means lost lives,” said Jamie Barnett, Director of the Find Me 911 Coalition and former Chief of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. “Based upon FCC estimates, we calculate that emergency responders could save more than a thousand lives each year in California. The FCC should move quickly to adopt the indoor location standards it proposed this spring and require cell phone carriers to recognize their responsibility to protect their customers and address this critical issue.”
Based upon statements by the FCC, the Find Me 911 Coalition, a coalition supported by more than 200,000 emergency responders and other safety advocates, estimates that hundreds of lives in metropolitan areas across California could be saved if 9-1-1 operators are given the timely and accurate location data needed to find callers in crisis.
Metropolitan Area Lives Saved Per Year
Los Angeles-Anaheim-Long Beach MSA 420
San Francisco-Oakland-Haywood MSA 145
Riverside-San Bernadino-Ontario MSA 140
San Diego-Carlsbad MSA 103
Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade MSA 71
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA 61
Data from the California State 9-1-1 Office released in August last year found that less than 45% of the 1,589,580 wireless 9-1-1 calls received statewide in March 2013 were delivered with accurate data on the caller’s location. The remaining calls were delivered with location data limited to the cell tower from which the call originated, information of marginal utility to emergency responders given the large area covered by each tower.
Data released in August 2013 by CALNENA, the California Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association, showed a dramatic decline in accurate wireless 9-1-1 location information since 2008, with the worst declines in urban areas like San Francisco. That release can be found at http://www.calnena.org/communications/To-FCC-08-12-2013/CALNENA-Press-Release-081213.pdf
“Data released in California last year shows that carriers often cannot provide accurate location data with the 9-1-1 call because GPS takes upwards of 30 seconds to work,” continued Barnett. “Worse, even after 30 seconds, the carriers’ GPS-based technology cannot reliably locate callers who are indoors, as the satellite signals may be blocked by the structure. The technology exists to address both issues while providing fast and accurate locations, and the FCC’s proposed rule would make sure the carriers use it.”
In a survey released earlier this year, California 9-1-1 managers and operators shared personal stories about the challenges they face in accurately locating 9-1-1 callers on cell phones. Among those stories:
California 9-1-1 Operator A: “We had a call of a house on fire. The cell was hitting a tower only. The RP [reporting person] was giving a street name and address, which was actually a trailer park name and space number. After numerous calls, [and] units being dispatched to wrong locations, it was discovered he was in a trailer park in a different city/county.”
California 9-1-1 Operator B: “I am not sure what transpired in the past few years, but it seems like we are going backward in technology, not forward. The fact that 70% of my 911 calls are now wireless; this has now become a public safety issue. We are trained that ‘dispatchers save seconds, seconds save lives,’ and now we need to add to that phrase ‘sometimes.'”
California 9-1-1 Operator C: “I have had multiple calls where we couldn’t find callers and spent considerable resources trying to track them down. One call that comes to mind included the SO assisting with a room-to-room search of an apt complex looking for a patient. What a waste of resources. I’ve taken calls where I’ve had to pray that the person was able to get private transport because we were never able to get an address or get an answer on callback.”
California 9-1-1 Operator D: “Had a caller with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He called 911 for an ambulance but was unable to speak, and the 911 information would not zone in on his location. While keeping the caller on the phone for about 20 minutes, we had to search through [the] history of the phone number, [and] call old friends at 6 in the morning before finding out where the caller was staying. Caller was in physical distress but we would have never found him based on the 911 info.”
California 9-1-1 Operator E: “Caller was being held against her will and was only able to leave the phone line open from a cell. Re-pinging the phone multiple times narrowed down the area, and previous call number history gave me a location. However had to re-ping several times to get close to the correct area.”
California 9-1-1 Operator F: “A 911 call was placed by a juvenile caller who, at great risk to himself, had the forethought to leave the cell phone open inside the residence while not alerting the armed suspect – his stepfather. Dispatchers could hear yelling/screaming inside the residence from the open line. Officers responded to the lat/long location and ‘listened’ for the yelling/screaming – hoping it was loud enough they could hear it out doors. The cell phone lat/long did nothing to pinpoint the caller’s location.”
(Names and locations redacted for privacy. Stories edited for length, spelling, and grammar.)
Methodology
The estimates contained in this press release are derived from information and statements provided by the FCC’s rulemaking on wireless indoor location accuracy (FCC Proceeding 07-114). Based on a study of mortality rates with improved 9-1-1 response times in Salt Lake City, the proposed rule stated, “If we assume that this outcome is reasonably reflective of the country as a whole, we estimate that the location accuracy improvements we propose could save approximately 10,120 lives annually, for an annual benefit of approximately $92 billion.” Using 2013 census estimates, the Find Me 911 Coalition extrapolated from those national estimates using state and metropolitan (MSA) population data to estimate the potential impact of the FCC’s proposed rule
