By Stephen Smoot
Imagine an individual kidnaped and taken, in extreme danger from their captor, fearful to make the slightest bit of noise by calling 911. Wouldn’t it be great if they could send a text instead?
Imagine 911 dispatching an officer, deputy, or a state trooper on a dangerous and potentially violent call. Wouldn’t it be great if the 911 caller could send whatever photographs they could of the scene so that law enforcement could plan and prepare for engagement en route?
Imagine EMTs receiving a call to respond to a health care emergency, especially a life threatening injury or other medical issue. Wouldn’t it be great if a 911 caller could do a visual call so that trained medical personnel could see the patient before getting there, perhaps even providing life-saving instruction?
That technology is currently available and will likely be mandatory in the future. Hardy County’s Office of Emergency Management is working on ways to acquire and install what the federal government calls “Next Generation 911,” which will expand what 911 can offer, saving more lives and offering more protection to law enforcement and fire fighters in the process.
“Most everyone is still on analog 911,” said Hardy County OEM Director Paul Lewis. He added that “Next Gen will actually be a digital system.”
Currently, adoption is clustered in five parts of West Virginia. Different companies serve different areas. Wetzel, Marshall, Ohio, and Brooke form one such “cluster” and use AT&T service for upgraded digital 911. Berkeley and Jefferson form another grouping, as do Ritchie and Doddridge. The Next Gen 911 version serves Lincoln Boone and Logan, as well as Barbour and Upshur.
Next Gen 911 is the service that Hardy, Pendleton, and others in the region are exploring. Adjacent counties that often see mutual aid responses make use easier when using the same company’s service.
Federal Communications commissioner, Geoffrey Starks, stated earlier this year that Next Generation 911 “makes location information available to public safety answering points (PSAPs) more quickly. And ultimately it will support the transmission of text, photos, video, and data – between the caller, the PSAP, and the first responder team. There is no question these are valuable improvements to this vital service, and every American should benefit from them.”
Last July, according to their news release, the Federal Communications Commission “adopted the first nationwide NG911 transition rules that define the responsibilities and set deadlines for originating service providers to implement NG911 capabilities on their networks and deliver 911 calls to NG911 systems.” It added that “this will expedite the nationwide transition to NG911, lead to faster call delivery and improved service reliability, and save lives.
Another advantage, says Lewis, is that calls will have fewer steps to go through, making call reception and response more efficient for 911 telecommunicators.
Lewis shared, however, that “these systems are not cheap to do,” but the push to adopt has been nationwide. The two systems required to reach the advanced capabilities will likely cost approximately $200,000 for Hardy County to have installed.
Early next year, a number of West Virginia emergency management officials will go to Congress to discuss the need to support local efforts to install. Lewis pointed out that the dedicated revenues from telephone land line fees have declined as use of those systems decreased, making it more difficult to pay for additions.
