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December 05, 2013

FCC Data Shows Location Failures in North Carolina's 911 System

According to data compiled by the FCC, close to half of the 911 calls that were made from cell phones in North Carolina in June of 2013 were delivered without the accurate location information needed to properly locate the person in crisis.

Over the past year the problem has continued to worsen. In June of 2012 36 percent of calls lacked proper location details and by June of 2013 those numbers had risen to 47 percent.

Most people assume that if they dial 911 in an emergency using their cell phone that the operator can locate them, but Jamie Barnett, former chief of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and Director of the Find Me 911 Coalition, says that assumption could be “fatally flawed.”

"For nearly half of wireless callers in North Carolina, the emergency call arrived without accurate information on the caller's location, putting lives at risk when callers don't know or can't share their location. The FCC should take immediate action to ensure that all 911 callers can be immediately located in a crisis, whether indoors or outside, in a rural or urban setting," Barnett explains.

Image via www.firenews.net

Data released by the FCC and analyzed by the Find Me 911 Coalition shows that 211,241 of the 447,918 wireless calls received by the state’s 911 emergency centers in June of 2013 lacked accurate "Phase II" location information. Most 911 calls made by wireless callers only allowed the operator to receive "Phase I," which shows the location of the cell tower where the call originated from. Each tower covers a large area making pinpointing the location of the caller impossible from “Phase I" data.

Jason Barbour, 911 Director for Johnston County, NC, says that, "In my call center, not only do the majority of the wireless 911 calls that come in not include the location of the caller, but we frequently experience 'false Phase IIs' where the caller identifies where he or she is but the location displayed is completely different. This is misleading, unhelpful and delays critical response time. Our dispatchers, fire and police officers dedicate their lives to saving lives. It is difficult, and even impossible, for us to be able to help those in need if we are unable to find them."

"Some have tried to blame this problem on 911 operators for not 'rebidding' to request more accurate location information, but that is not fair to our 911 professionals. Emergency personnel need accurate location data as soon as a 911 call arrives, both to help route it to the appropriate call center and to respond to the emergency, particularly if the call is cut off before a location can be given. This is a growing national crisis, and we urge the FCC and carriers to work with us to adopt indoor location requirements and solve this dangerous problem," Barnett added. 


Edited by Rory J. Thompson


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