GRAND ISLAND, Neb (NTV) – Ravaged by floods and tornadoes, Grand Island prepares for the future with its new Emergency Management and Communications Center.
The dispatchers who work there are the first first-responder to many emergencies but if a disaster affected them at their center in the basement of City Hall… READ MORE
The cellphones that have revolutionized the way we communicate also pose real challenges for our 911 emergency response system. Three-fourths of the calls to Benton County’s 911 system now come from cellphones, which take up to three times longer to manage than landline calls. That’s because landline calls display the actual address of the call immediately, so dispatchers instantly know where to send responders. Not so with cellphones….
About midnight one evening in 2008, I began to enjoy a late-night snack — a granola bar. After several bites, my lips and mouth seemed itchy and began to swell. Realizing I was reacting to something in the granola, I immediately stopped eating it, but the allergic reaction only worsened.
Reluctantly, I dialed 911, explaining to the dispatcher that I was reacting violently to something I was eating, and needed help. She asked me to unlock my front door. I crossed my living room, unlatched the door, and seconds later passed out…
In part one of our special report, “Lives on the Line” we highlighted the struggles 911 dispatchers face.While it’s a difficult job, in one dispatcher’s words, there are those calls that make it all worthwhile. One of those calls involved a young Morton girl whose mother suffered a life-threatening seizure.
Despite being just 8 years old at the time, when Bella Robinson’s Mom suffered a medical episode, she knew just what to do.It all started on a cold, snowy day last January. Bella wanted to play outside, but first her mom, Gina…
Plano (WBAP/KLIF) You can now text 9-1-1 if you have an emergency in the city of of Plano. The city says the ability to text messages to 9-1-1 will help residents who are hearing impaired. But, it can also be used in circumstances where it’s not safe for the caller to make a voice call to 9-1-1. If you do text…
TYLER, Texas — No one ever wants to have to call 9-1-1. However, those three numbers have saved countless lives since its first use in 1968.
Each year, there are over 240 million calls into 9-1-1 dispatch services in the U.S., according to the National Emergency Number Foundation. Nearly 80 percent of those calls are made using cell phones. Cell phones have become an indispensable tool in the 21st century…
