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Jan. 21, 2010

With today's rather limited technology when it comes to cell phones, even smartphones or VoIP (voice over IP) networks, making a 911 emergency call on a mobile phone or from a VoIP setup may not be the best idea, since some wireless and/or VoIP systems may not fully recognize the exact geographic position of the caller, failing to accurately dispatch emergency help.

Recently, a Calgary, Alberta baby died after his parents frantically made numerous 911 emergency calls from their VoIP phone, noting that their baby had trouble breathing. After waiting for more than 40 minutes and not seeing any ambulance in sight, a neighbor made the 911 call from his analog (read: old technology) landline, and an ambulance arrived just six minutes later. Unfortunately, it was too late to save the baby since he died of cardiac arrest.

How could this have happened you ask? The parent's VoIP network manager still had the parent's old physical address in Concord, Ontario when the call was placed, since the parents had recently moved to Calgary but the file was never updated.

But this could also have happened if the call would have been placed from a cell phone as well.

Now there could be new technology in today's mobile phones and VoIP systems that could be used to accurately and rapidly pinpoint 911 callers when they're inside homes, apartment buildings or skyscrapers.

WirelessWERX, a company that develops wireless systems is in Denver for an APCO conference this week to show how its "Bluetooth Node" in buildings can help an emergency rescue team more accurately find callers. With more people giving up landlines for wireless-only services, it's even more important going forward, according to WirelessWERX CEO Steve Artim.

WirelessWERX is showcasing how a PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) in Denver is implementing its SiteWERX indoor location system to accurately pinpoint a mobile 911 caller's location. Artim says SiteWERX can get as specific as the exact floor and room number in a modern apartment building.

More than 50 percent of 911 calls are made on wireless devices, with half of those made indoors, he says.

Artim, who co-founded InnoPath Software, says he was attracted to WirelessWERX more than two years ago for the great safety aspect it offers. He recounts the story of a San Jose woman who suffered a heart attack but died before emergency medical personnel could locate her home. They had to check about 15 other houses in her neighborhood before they found her. Instances like that are happening all over the country, he says.

By law, today's wireless carriers are required by the FCC to report on their E-911 accuracy, but they're not required to report at a level so specific as to the exact floor of a skyscraper from which a call is made.

Callers who are alone have to be healthy enough to verbally tell a dispatcher where they are exactly, or they're more or less out of luck.

WirelessWERX Node consists of three components: a Bluetooth device on the handset, a 'node' put in a building and a connection to the PSAP. A node might cost $80 or $100, with the idea being that building or apartment owners would pay for the nodes. Some large universities see it as a way to ensure the safety of its students.

The node can connect to the PSAP operator even if a person can't make a phone call from inside a garage or building.

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Source: WirelessWERX Inc.