
About 70 percent of 911 calls are placed from wireless phones and that percentage is growing. The ability to call 911 for help in an emergency is one of the main reasons many own a wireless phone. Consider keeping your land line in your home for emergencies. Prepare to tell dispatch where you are located. The call will be routed to an emergency dispatch where the cell tower is located or several cell towers away, not where you are located. That tower will be different from the town of Double Oak.
Wireless phones are not land lines. There are unique challenges posed by wireless phones for emergency response personnel and wireless service providers. Since wireless phones are mobile, they are not associated with one fixed location or address. Automatic number identification/automatic location identification is standard equipment in any Public Service Answering Point (PSAP) known as the 911 center. Wireless phones currently do not have this capability.
– Tell dispatch the location of the emergency right away.
– Provide dispatch with your wireless phone number in case you are disconnected or they need to call you back.
– If your wireless phone does not have a contract for service, dispatch does not have your number and cannot contact you.
– Refrain from programming your phone to automatically dial 911 when one button.
– Turn off the auto-dial 911 feature if it is already turned on.
– Lock your keypad when you’re not using your wireless phone to help prevent accidental calls to 911.
– Creating a contact in your wireless phone’s memory with the name “ICE” (In Case of Emergency), which lists the phone numbers of people you want to have notified in an emergency.
More information.
Calling 911 from a Wireless Phone?
We Don’t Know Where You Are.
We Don’t Know Who You Are.
Location. Location. Location.