911 calls by cellphone seen as mixed blessing

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Updated: Saturday, Jan. 20, 2001 at 22:41 CST

911 calls by cellphone seen as mixed blessing

By Kirsch

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Four years ago, Dresher and her mother were enjoying

lunch at an area restaurant when Dresher's mother collapsed.

Dresher, thinking that her mother had suffered a heart attack,

quickly dialed 911 on her cellphone. A short time later, emergency medical help

arrived. The episode was a false alarm -- Dresher's mother had a pulled muscle

-- but being able to quickly summon emergency aid gave Dresher peace of

mind.

" I love my cellphone, " said Dresher, who lives in Southlake.

" I don't go anywhere without it. "

Dresher is not alone. Cellphones are rapidly becoming the

communication device of choice when Tarrant County residents make 911 calls.

" We're seeing an explosive increase, " said Bill Munn,

executive director of the Tarrant County 911 District, which provides

administrative services to Tarrant County 911 call centers.

The increasing use of cellphones is providing police with

better information about emergencies such as vehicular accidents.

" Someone with a cellphone on the scene, as opposed to someone

having to drive a mile and a half to a coin phone, can make all the difference

in the world, " Munn said.

But communities are also grappling with information overload

in some cases, requiring them to hire more call takers or reassign employees to

cope with the increased number of 911 calls.

Employees have been reassigned in Southlake to make sure that

the 911 center is adequately staffed at all times, Southlake Department of

Public Safety spokesman Finn said.

Grapevine plans to hire another employee to help answer the

flood of 911 calls, most of them from cellphones, police spokesman Alan Branson

said. The city received 3,716 calls to 911 last month, up from 2,424 in January

2000. About 71 percent of the December calls were made on wireless devices,

according to the 911 District.

In January 2000, 25 percent of the 160,815 calls received at

Tarrant County 911 centers were made on cellphones, according to the 911

District. By last month, the figure increased to 34 percent.

Experts say the reason is simple: Texans, along with other

Americans, are buying cellphones at a furious pace. Given the convenience of the

wireless devices, it should not surprising that people are using them more often

to make emergency calls.

As of June, an estimated 6.5 million out of 20.8 million

Texans had cellphones, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

" A lot more people have cellphones now, and the more that get

them, the more calls we're going to get, " said Debbie Eskew, communications

manager for the North Richland Hills Police Department.

Grapevine dispatcher Trevor Grisso said the main advantage of

cellphones is that they enable people to call from the scene of an accident or

other emergency.

That means callers can supply information about the number of

people injured and the location of the incident, Grisso said.

Cellphones can also save lives. One case involved the October

kidnapping and carjacking of Randy Massey of Southlake. The kidnappers left

Massey in the back of his sport utility vehicle with his eyes taped and his

hands bound.

Despite the restraints, Massey got his cellphone out of his

hip pocket and dial 911.

A police dispatcher in Grand Prairie, where Massey had been

left, contacted the company that manufactured Massey's cellphone. Experts there

isolated the area from where Massey was calling. Police finally found Massey in

a field.

Brimmer, a Grand Prairie police detective and spokesman,

said Massey's cellphone made it easier to locate him.

" It probably narrowed the search to a matter of hours rather

than days, " Brimmer said.

Because cellphones do not automatically provide addresses to

911 centers, as land- line telephones do, that becomes one of their major

drawbacks.

Dispatchers in Tarrant County do receive tower locations and,

in some cases, call- back numbers on cellphone calls, said Astin Buchanan,

information systems manager at the 911 District.

But that does not give precise locations. Dispatchers

sometimes cope with that problem by getting location information from cellphone

companies, which are available round-the-clock to dispatchers.

Wireless companies are deciding which type of technology they

will deploy to provide more precise locations for cellphone calls to emergency

centers, Buchanan said.

The FCC is requiring wireless companies to have the locator

technology 50 percent complete by October and 100 percent by October 2002.

The problem of information overload from cellphone 911 calls

may be more difficult to solve.

In Southlake, it is not unusual for authorities to receive up

to 20 calls from motorists about a single traffic accident on Texas 114, police

spokesman Finn said.

" Cellphone calls have made a positive impact in terms of

immediate response. However, with that has come the opportunity to overwhelm the

911 system, " he said.

Another problem is inadvertent wireless emergency calls. That

happens when a phone button programmed to automatically call 911 is accidentally

activated.

Munn and other experts say they have no data to indicate the

extent of that problem, only irritation when it does. In that event, and if the

cellphone line remains open, dispatchers listen for clues about whether there is

a real emergency or just an accidental call made when the owner unknowingly

pushed the 911 button.

" There is no need to program your phone, " said Alisa ,

911 District public marketing manager, " but if you use that feature, be aware

that if you bump your phone against your desk or throw it in your purse, there

is a likelihood that you will one day dial into a communications center and they

won't know if it is a legitimate call or an accidental call. "

CELLPHONE EMERGENCY CALLS:

When making a cellphone 911 call ...

* Give your name and cellphone number.

* Describe what happened and the number of people involved.

* Give exact location of the emergency and distinct markings

or features on buildings. On highways, use mile markers.

* Do not hang up until the operator asks you to end the call.

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