The 911

Well this week summer poked her head out from under the spring blanket. When I saw her, I inquired, “Summer, is that really you?” She replied coyly, “I’m here on spring break”, and then added “See you again on summer vacation”. Yes, summer has come early this year on Lake Norman, near Charlotte, North Carolina. Hey, I am not complaining (let’s see how I feel after a few months of 90’s+), I love summer and everything that comes with it, beaches, camping, boating, spending time outdoors (and on the water) with friends and family. Summer also seems to bring people out of hibernation. Our townhouse is converted into the Miller Inn from May through August as we welcome troves of friends and family. This week we have my sister-in-law, Linda, and our beautiful niece, Iliana, visiting. We plan on spending some time at our pool here at Oakhurst, perhaps boating on Lake Norman, and gem mining out near Asheville. Later in June some of the free outdoor events start up in the area, including the outdoor movie series in Cornelius, and the Charlotte Philharmonic playing Bradley Park. These are the things my wife and I love to do in the summer, before the quilt of fall and winter covers over summer for another another year.

What do you enjoy doing in the summer? What do you have planned this year? What places to you plan to see? We look forward to your comments.

I read an interesting article today on the JEM website about the use of wireless phones in calling 911 in an emergency. In the nutshell, the “less” in “wireless” stands for less effective.

The 911 emergency dispatch system has not kept up with the latest technologies. The explosion in the use of wireless and VOIP system (like Vonage) has left the emergency dispatch system scrambling. The current 911 system in place to incorporate these two growing communication systems is at best a patchwork. I want to first of all address the issues related to wireless phone technologies. In a future post I will address VOIP.

According to the JEM article I mentioned above there are currently two systems for wireless 911 access: network-based and GPS. Network-based systems (like used by AT&T Cingular) use multiple cell phone towers to triangulate your current location. GPS systems use low-orbiting satellites that communicate with the GPS chip in your phone (like used by Verizon Wireless) to determine your location.

Overall network-based systems tend to work better in urban areas that have plentiful cell towers and GPS systems in rural areas. However, both systems have serious weaknesses.

GPS-based Systems
If you are calling indoors with a wireless phone that uses GPS it may be difficult for the satellites to pick up your position. That is why it is best to get close to a window or to step outside when calling 911 on phone using this system. Also, in urban areas the satellite signals can be blocked by buildings and other structures.

Network-based Systems
Network-based systems run into issues in less populated areas that do not have as many cell towers. These systems require a minimum of three towers in order to triangulate your position.

My company offers First Aid & CPR training in North Carolina and surrounding states. I recently conducted some CPR classes in Virginia. My visit there highlighted a huge issue with using cellphones to call 911. What was that you ask? You have to have a signal. At the site where I was, I was dead in the  water.  Many of  the miners that  I taught mentioned that this  is a big issue there in the mountains. Now, let’s say that you do have a signal, you  are still not in the clear. I have had numerous students of ours tell us that they were routed to a 911 dispatch center in a different state when they used their cellphone to call for help. These calls then have to be rerouted and that delay can be critical in an emergency. One of the miners in my recent class did something that I thought was an excellent idea. He programmed in the direct phone number to the local EMS system. So, instead of calling 911 in an emergency he calls EMS directly. I don’t recommend this in general, but in his situation (deep in the mountains) it was probably a smart move.

So, for the foreseeable future, if possible call 911 from a landline phone. If that is not possible, be prepared to give the dispatcher your exact location.  Hopefully, future technologies will address these glaring weaknesses in the system.