When Amy Randall's vehicle hyrdroplaned and flipped off of an Upshur County bridge, it wasn't a call to 911 that saved her life.
A couple driving Oct. 4 on FM 2263 behind her Buick LeSabre saw the wreck and stopped to help. They tried calling 911, but the call would not connect. They called the Upshur County Sheriff's Department instead, and rescuers responded to save Randall from her flooded car.
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Les Hassell/News-Journal Photo | Telecommunications Operator Lindsay James takes 911 calls Wednesday at her station at the Longview Police Department.
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"911 doesn't work everywhere," said Trev Powell, the motorist who made the call.
About 99 percent of the country's population is covered by 6,183 emergency dispatch services, according to information from the National Emergency Number Association. Sally Rees, Longview's public safety communications manager, said people without access to 911 service live in sparsely populated areas. She said she is not aware of any such area in East Texas.
The 911 emergency number was created in 1968 by AT&T after representatives from the federal government and the Federal Communications Commission requested a universal emergency reporting line, according to the National Emergency Number Association. The use of the line spread through the country and has been adopted by other countries.
Dispatchers inside the Longview Police Department's headquarters receive calls from people within the city limits, with a few exceptions. Rees said Longview's emergency dispatch is the largest in the area, with 38 dispatchers and six administrative staff. Many cities do not have their own dispatch service, relying instead on county or other services. Longview's dispatch receives calls for the Lakeport and Judson Metro volunteer fire departments, for example.
When 911 is called, the caller's location and phone selection determines how the call is processed and where it is sent. Home telephones and cell phones have different processes, and dispatch centers can treat the calls differently.
For land lines, Rees said telephone companies' networks direct the call based on location. In Longview, the networks immediately route calls to the Longview dispatch. Gregg County residents' calls are sent to the Gregg County dispatch.
Cell phone calls can be more complicated and less precise, Rees said. Cell phone providers direct the calls based upon their locations within a cell tower's area. The area of each tower is divided into thirds, and calls are directed to whichever dispatch service would cover the majority of each individual third. Because the process is determined by majorities, some calls can be sent to the wrong dispatch center.
"Cell phones are so ambiguous," said Gina Offield, Upshur County's 911 coordinator. "They don't have a physical address."
Most dispatch centers have multiple lines to separate calls from land lines and cell phones. Rees said the separation is necessary in Longview to prevent a large number of drivers from clogging all of the center's lines to report a wreck. By separating land lines and cell phones, home or business emergencies can still be reported.
Every agency can operate differently. Offield said emergency calls within the county are automatically routed to the appropriate agency, whether that is the sheriff's office dispatch or city police departments.
What can go wrong?
Despite advances in technology to include more ways of reporting emergencies, several things can interfere with a call, officials said.
Speaking generally, Rees said cell phone calls to 911 can only work if the phone has a working signal. If there is no signal, the call cannot be made because there is nothing to carry it. Offield said cell phones can be unreliable for emergency calls.
Sometimes an agency is overloaded with calls. Rees said the 5 p.m. "rush hour" is typically the Longview service's busiest time, along with any event that creates a large amount of traffic. If all the lines are busy, a caller will not be able to connect with a dispatcher.
"There are limitations," Rees said. "Every agency has their own limitations."
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National 911 statistics
— About 240 million 911 calls are made to 6,183 emergency dispatch services annually
— About 1/3 of all 911 calls come from cell phones
— About 99 percent of the population has access to basic 911 services
— Source: National Emergency Number Association
Comments
By Emery
Nov 23, 2009 12:11 AM | Link to this
A lot of cars have a emergency system, like GM have onstar. I remember in 1999 when I dial 911 on my cell phone it would not work (would not ring), my mom and I was in a accident, I had to call 00 to get a Sprint operator and the guy had to call Longview Police department but the Longview Police department line was busy what the Sprint Oper and now days if you press 0 you get a computerization system for as the Oper. A lot of times you can't tell the 911 oper where you are if you don't see any street signs it makes it hard to locate where you are at. When you traveling many people don't know the States DPS number so you call 911 and they transfer you to DPS. When my mom and I was traveling in MS, the passanger side tire came off and MS had took all the mile markers off the interstate, we got lucky for a number that was written on the side of the road so DPS could tell the tow truck where we wore at. MS had a lot of pop holes and some cars wore flipping over and losing tires from the pop holes on MS interstate. I hope 911 upgrsde system will now be able to show where the person is on the cell phone with the cell phone built in GPS that always on when you dail 911 but I know all 911 centers can't locate where you are yet with the cell phone built in GPS.
By Anonymous
Oct 30, 2009 4:48 PM | Link to this
I've never taken the time to reply to any of the stories or comments to stories on here before, but I had to say something about the comments posted on this story. I guess the reason is because they hit so close to home, as I am a dispatcher with the City of Longview Public Safety Communications. I wanted to reply to the comments Mikey posted.
Most people don't understand that if we have a major emergency, such as an accident with injuries or a shooting or something of that nature, the phones are ringing non-stop with several witnesses calling in about the incident. Then, on top of that, you have other citizens calling in to report various other incidents happening at the same time. We are trained to answer the phones as soon as they ring and to treat each call as a potential life threatening emergency, no matter if it comes in on the emergency 911 line or the non-emergency line, because goodness knows you can get any type of call on any of the lines. Contrary to what some people believe and have actually told me before, we don't just sit around listening to the phones ring and take our sweet time to answer them. It's not that "you don't get anybody to answer 911", and that "no one ever (picks) up the call". If the phones are ringing off the wall, as soon as we hang up with one caller, we're picking up another line to answer another call, and we do this as quickly, efficiently, professionally, courteously, and compassionately as we can while still trying to get all pertinent information that is needed for the type of call we are dealing with. I didn't mean all that as an attack on Mikey, by any means. Please don't think that. I just wanted to take the time to educate everyone on how dispatch really operates.
And thank you, Loretta, for the nice compliments you posted in your comment. I do believe that we have a great group of people working in dispatch, and I am very honored to work with each and every one of the amazing people in our department!
By Loretta
Oct 28, 2009 12:25 AM | Link to this
I have had the opportunity to observe in the telecommications room of the Longview Police Department. I have to say that I have never seen a more professional, caring and efficient group of employees. I was facinated at the technology and professionalism in a city of this size. These people really CARE, literally take their jobs to heart, and are truly the "hub of Longview".
By Murray Moore
Oct 28, 2009 12:10 AM | Link to this
I have never experianced gaps on 911 coverage. I feel safe right now, but it will be only a matter of time before someone steals copper that affects the 911 coverage.
Cannot think of one good reason the City is not passing the ordinance at the city level that regulates metal sales. And why the County is not passing any regulations to regulate metal sales at with the commissioners court.
I was going to go to the townhall meeting tonight, but figured it would have about the same impact as walking out in my front yard and talking to my Oak Tree.
By mikey
Oct 27, 2009 10:58 AM | Link to this
Not to mention the fact that sometimes you don't get anybody to answer 911. I was following a car that the driver seemed drunk running over curbs. I was on loop 281, well within Longview city limits. No one ever picked up the call. I called the non emergency number to Longview police and they answered right as the car hit another car head on in the other lane. Thankfully no one was hurt.
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