Comm Center News
Police agencies in San Diego County move toward encryption of scanner traffic (CA)
When gunshots ring out in a neighborhood, a police scanner can come in handy. News reporters listen to scanner traffic to piece together what is happening. Sometimes residents tune in via cellphone apps. Now, more and more, that source of information is being cut off....
Ionia County hires Central Dispatch director (MI)
IONIA — Ionia County is bringing in an experienced candidate to serve as its next director of Central Dispatch. The Ionia County Board of Commissioners voted 6-0 Tuesday, July 13, to hire Lance Langdon as the next leader of its emergency response center. Langdon...
Cobb County E911 Emergency Department accredited for seventh time (GA)
Cobb County E911 Director Melissa Alterio announced in a news release on the Cobb County website that her department was accredited for the seventh time by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA). Cobb County E911 was first...
South Sound 911’s new, bigger communications building almost open. Here’s a look inside (WA)
South Sound 911’s new regional communications center is set to open its public counter July 20, bringing Pierce County and dispatchers a bigger, more effective space for operations. The building spans 74,528 square feet and cost $59 million to construct. Construction...
911 Budget Includes Pay For 18 Full-Time Dispatchers (TN)
A 2021-22 budget that includes salaries and benefits for 18 full-time dispatchers was approved Tuesday by the Greene County 911 Board of Directors. Estimates of how much it would cost to fund 16 and 21 full-time dispatchers were also provided by 911 Director Jerry...
Crawford County 911 dispatch services consolidation progress continues (AR)
Progress continues to be made toward the final goal of consolidating 911 dispatch services in Crawford County. After welcoming new 911 Communications Director Joanie Best at the end of June, Crawford County Judge Dennis Gilstrap presented the new consolidated budget...
Accidental 911 Calls on the Rise (WI)
Know how your device makes 911 calls to prevent accidental misdials. This iPhone’s emergency SOS details are found in the Settings section.
How to be sure you’re not making one, and what do if you are
If you didn’t know your phone or watch is making 911 calls, you’re not alone.
Between Friday, July 9, and Monday, July 12, the Door County Sheriff’s Office incident reports logged accidental 911 follow-up calls – or emergencies that were not emergencies – 62 times. That’s 21% of the 297 911 calls received during that period.
It’s not a fluke. Accidental 911 calls account for “about 20-25% of our monthly call volume, or one out of every five calls,” said Dan Kane, Door County’s emergency management and communications director.
“We’ve seen an uptick in accidental misdials in the county,” he said. “Not just the county. This is a pretty big problem across the country. What it does is, it ties up our resources here and takes us away from other 911 calls.”
The culprits are the phones and watches always at hand, wrist or pocket. The devices have built-in SOS shortcuts to make 911 calls. Users of iPhones, for example, can go to their settings and learn under “Emergency SOS” that pressing and holding the side button and volume button simultaneously will make the emergency call. Rapidly pressing the side button five times will also do the trick.
“If you’re on a jet ski or it’s in a tight pocket bouncing around, they don’t realize it, but the phone is calling,” Kane said. “We’ll hear someone on the golf course, on a golf cart.”
Users should familiarize themselves with the ways their phones or watches call 911 and take proper steps to prevent accidental misdials.
“Our biggest recommendation is for people to look into that depending on their device and learn how their phone handles emergency calls,” Kane said.
Sometimes parents remove the phone’s SIM card – the tiny, portable memory chip that stores information about the user – to let children play with the phone. But some phones are capable of calling 911 even without the SIM card.
“We get a few of those from kids,” Kane said.
If you do call 911 accidentally, don’t hang up.
“A lot of people hang up, and that requires more work to try and track down if there is or is not an emergency,” Kane said.
That means calling the caller back or trying to track the call if the caller doesn’t answer, which can take a long time.
“Stay on the line; realize you’re not in trouble,” Kane said, and speak to the dispatcher to answer a few questions. “It won’t take more than a minute to clear the emergency.”
If the accidental 911 caller notices the call and hangs up before the phone rings, dispatch likely still received the call.
“They come into the center quicker than traditional calls,” Kane said. “We’ll get quite a few of those.”
Kane said they have protocols to follow and must connect even with accidental callers.
“We don’t do it because we want to do it, but because we have to,” Kane said. “We have to make sure there is no emergency.”
He cited the 2008 case of Denise Amber Lee, who was kidnapped from her Florida home. During the hours that followed, she was able to use the abductor’s mobile phone to call 911 and stay on the line for six minutes – an act that should have saved her life. Tragically, the 911 system failed her. Two days later, she was found murdered and buried in a shallow grave.
“She ended up getting murdered that night, but what came of it is 911 hang-ups, or follow-ups, are important, and it’s on us to make sure that even if 99.9% are not Denise Amber Lee, that we catch [those] that are,” he said. “That’s why we do it. We have to do our part to make sure everything is OK.”
Tips on Preventing Accidental 911 Calls
• Avoid putting your phone in a tight space such as a cup holder. Holding down the power and volume buttons can trigger an emergency call.
• Avoid putting your phone in your pocket while mowing the lawn, using a jet ski, riding in a golf cart or in other situations where the phone can freely bounce around. Pressing the power button five times in a row can trigger an emergency call.
• Avoid letting children play with your phone unattended. Even an old phone without a SIM card can still dial 911.
• iWatches will dial 911 through certain hand motions or by putting them on a charger.
• Go to your phone’s settings to see how your device handles emergency calls. iPhone settings refer to it as “Emergency SOS.”
$175K grant for 911 center gets nod (NY)
JOHNSTOWN — The Fulton County Board of Supervisors on Monday accepted a nearly $175,000 state grant to augment salaries at the 911 Dispatch Center. The resolution that passed authorizes acceptance of a $173,933 Public Safety Answering Points Grant from the state...
Heroes gather for fourth annual Valor Awards (VA)
Business and community leaders filled a Culpeper firehall Wednesday night to celebrate first responders and public service workers. The event was the fourth annual Valor Awards, hosted by the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce at Salem Volunteer Fire Department. A major...
LEGAL PROTECTIONS COULD BE ON THE WAY FOR 9-1-1 DISPATCHERS (NC)
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – You can always count on having a 911 dispatcher on the other end of the line when you call for help, but these first responders do not have the same legal protections as others like police or firefighters. They’re never at the scene of the...
Hour 1: Former Sheriff John Urquhart defends the 911 dispatcher on Sherman’s wife’s call (WA)
12PM - The Big Lead // GUEST: Former Sheriff John Urquhart defends the 911 dispatcher on Sherman's wife's call, explains procedure and training // Gov. Inslee says everything is climate change // Twitter upset with us for airing 911 call [PODCAST]
Lifesaving, Exceptional Service Awards Distributed at Dover, NH Police Department
Some of Dover Police Department's finest were recognized in a ceremony held at the station on Wednesday. Five department employees were recognized for their work during an early morning fire at an apartment building on Hill Street which broke out around 1 a.m. on June...
Redding’s new radios sat in storage for over a year, but new emergency system is finally rolling out (CT)
REDDING — The town’s emergency departments hope to have a new radio system up and running by the end of the month to enhance their communication with one another and eliminate safety risks. Redding started the multi-year, multi-million-dollar improvement years ago...
911 dispatchers and call takers share safety concerns regarding short staffing in Lucas County (OH)
Many in the call center are working up to 16-hour shifts to cover for short staffing, and employees with disciplinary actions against them are continuing to work. TOLEDO, Ohio — We all hope we never have to call 911, but if we do, we expect someone will answer the...
Texas Legislature Prioritizes 911 CPR Statewide
Lawmakers in Texas are taking steps to help 911 and EMS professionals save more lives. Texas recently passed House Bill 786, which ensures all Texas 911 dispatchers are trained in the delivery of high-quality T-CPR.1 Telecommunicator-CPR is the process by which a 911...
Public Safety Dispatcher, Waukesha job with Carroll University (WI)
Description Responsibilities: Implements, directs and guides dispatch services Answers emergency and non-emergency calls for service Receives and records information and requests for police/security services in a computerized database Dispatches field personnel...
Special Election to be Held in November for 1 Percent General Purpose Tax Proposition (WY)
SWEETWATER COUNTY — Sweetwater County residents will have the chance to vote on a 1 percent general purpose tax proposition in November in a special election. The Sweetwater County Board of Commissioners, the City of Green River, Town of Superior, Town of Wamsutter...
Deann Macleod of Kingman 911 Communications Center Becomes a Certified Public-Safety Executive (AZ)
Alexandria, VA – The Association of Public-Safety Communications Professionals (APCO) International has announced Deann MacLeod of Kingman, Arizona has graduated from the prestigious Certified Public-Safety Executive (CPE) Program. Deann MacLeod serves as...
Groundbreaking “9-1-1” technology released
AUSTIN, Texas, July 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2012 Joan Lantz called 9-1-1 on her cell phone. She died in her apartment in Rock Hill, South Carolina because 9-1-1 operators could not locate her. In 2020 Sheila Sheppard died in her Washington DC residence because the...
Local counties wisely adopt Next Generation 911 (PA)
Elected officials are bringing “next generation” emergency communication technology to the region, and that benefits everyone who finds themselves in an emergency and the first responders sent to help. The Union County Commissioners voted to join the internet-based...
Upcoming Webinar
4.9 GHz Band: Review of the FCC Order
On October 22, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) released its Eighth Report and Order (Eighth R&O) regarding utilization of the 4940-4990 MHz (4.9 GHz) band that protects incumbent users as requested by us, the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA). This Eighth R&O addresses a number of issues related to the use of this band by public safety. Please join us for a briefing on this order and how it impacts public safety.
This presentation will be led by Chief Jeff Johnson (ret) and Attorney Jason Karp, one of the nation’s leading experts in public safety spectrum regulations.
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