When an emergency arises, call 911, don’t text it.
Lyon County Sheriff Gary Eichorn reminded citizens that local dispatch centers do not have the capability of receiving text messages.
“They’ve got to make some ability for us to receive those,” Eichorn said. “We don’t have a cell phone laying there to receive the text” and the radio and telephone systems are not set up to receive text messages, either.
“You have to dial 911,” he said.
The Kansas House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday that will level the 911 service fee for every landline and mobile telephone billed or sold in Kansas, according to an announcement from Rep. Don Hill.
The fees help pay for the infrastructure of the state’s 911 system. Mobile phone users had paid 50 cents per month and landline users had paid 75 cents. The House bill would institute a 55-cent, across-the-board 911 fee for both types of telephones.
Legislators are learning about what is known as “Next Generation 911,” or NG-911. The current emergency system has been “bandaged over” the past few years to adapt to technologies like mobile phones.
“However, the underlying technology based on Internet Protocol (IP) is different than the current 911 service,” Hill said.
Telecommunications experts told committee members the federal government has begun the process of transitioning into the new system, but substantial funding and cooperation will be needed at all levels of government to accomplish the change.
“... (We) need to make sure our state’s emergency communication system is designed to interact with all forms of technology — now and in the future,” Hill said. “But in the meantime, make sure your children understand that if they are in trouble and need help, they must call 911 directly. Texting won’t get them the help they need.”
Under some circumstances, calling and speaking with a dispatcher is impossible, Eichorn said.
He described a situation within the past few months in which a youngster needed help and, because of circumstances, was able only to text, not talk, on a cell phone.
“They were texting their parents,” he said. “... It took three of us to do it because the parents had to be forwarding the text message” through conversation with the dispatcher.
Because of cell-phone tower configurations, it also is impossible to locate where a 911 cell phone call originates.
“There’s places in the cities, places where there’s more towers, where you can get a triangulation,” Eichorn said.
In the Emporia area, there is a tower on the east side and a tower on the west. With those limitations, law enforcement could trace a call only to a general area.
“All it could do is tell us it’s within eight blocks of this tower,” Eichorn said. “It’s not like on TV. ...
“The big thing is, you can’t rely on a text message for your emergency response.”
madpoet (anonymous) says...
Good to know. Of course, "old" folks like me take so long to type a text it's much faster to just call and talk anyway. :)
February 12, 2010 at 3:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JohnDoe (anonymous) says...
What kind of retard takes the time to type a text message over dialing 9-1-1 and pushing "talk"?!?! That's 4 buttons! Are you going to text back and forth with the dispatcher! Stating your location and "I need help" takes 5 seconds. It's unbelievable that this happened more than once. Idiots!
February 12, 2010 at 6:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
What is meant by "texting"? Is a cell phone just a regular phone but in a jail cell or what? I'm not up to date on all this "jive lingo".
February 12, 2010 at 6:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
seriouslyfolks
i think the phone in the jail is a pay phone. That's what this guy I used to know told me....I of course would not know anything about such things like having to make collect calls and everything ....
February 12, 2010 at 7:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
shoehorn (anonymous) says...
In response to John D'oh, what kind of a whizbang would want a child to carry on a audible conversation with someone if they were hiding from an intruder?
February 13, 2010 at 1:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
In the movies they whisper.
February 13, 2010 at 2:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
shoehorn (anonymous) says...
in reality, they can hear you.
February 13, 2010 at 4:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
Don't tell me that. I'm not a doctor or lawyer or someone important like that so I don't have a cell phone so I can't text in case of an intruder. I guess I'll have to handle it the old fashioned way and shoot them.
February 13, 2010 at 5:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
shoehorn (anonymous) says...
how big the hole?
February 13, 2010 at 7:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
if I was an intruder and heard the victim on the phone with the police I think I would leave>
February 15, 2010 at 7:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )