Ask any 911 call taker the one thing they wish their citizens understood and you’ll get a few similar answers: they don’t always have your exact location, answering their questions doesn’t slow down the response, and never hang up on them. Even if you accidently dial 911!
The reason why you shouldn’t hang up is pretty simple: it takes longer to call you back and ensure you’re safe than it does to just stay on the line and explain the situation. Most 911 call takers will call back hang ups to ensure there is no emergency. Seconds matter in the emergency number field, and taking even a couple of extra moments to redial a hang up and confirm that you’re safe means that call taker isn’t available to answer a real emergency call.
Here are some of the main reasons callers hang up on 911, and what you should do if this happens to you!
Accidentally Dial 911 With Emergency Lock Screen Function
Most cell phones these days require a password to get into the device, including to make a call, but you can still dial 911 from the emergency call feature on the lockscreen.
The problem? Sometimes people accidentally pocket dial their local 911 call center using this feature. You can help prevent pocket dials to 911 by:
Purchasing a case which prevents double tapping buttons.
Decreasing screen sensitivity in the accessibility settings of your device.
Make sure your phone is properly locked before putting it in your pocket or purse and if you do happen to accidently 911, just stay on the line!
Children Who Accidentally Dial 911
Every 911 call taker has a story (multiple stories) of a child reaching 911 on accident while playing with a phone. And many times, parents just hang up as quickly as possible once they realize what’s going on. It’s always better to stay on the line and just explain what happened.
Children accidentally dialing 911 on older phones without data plans is extremely common in the 911 call center because parents will give their kids old smartphones to play with during the day. This takes 911 call takers away from actual emergencies, so please don’t let your kids play with old cell phones!
Accidentally Dial 911 With a Smartwatch
Watches are getting smarter and smarter, to the point where they can even dial 911 on their own. The Apple watch is equipped with a fall detection feature, which uses an algorithm to sense if the wearer needs medical attention after a fall. If you don’t use one of Apple’s safety apps to trigger a fall, you can use a button on the side of the watch to call for help. However, many 911 call centers are reporting false alerts.
Help your local 911 call takers out by ensuring your smartwatch is set up correctly to prevent accidental 911 calls, which you can learn how to do on an Apple watch here. If your watch initiates a call to 911, you typically have six seconds to cancel it. If you can’t cancel in time, just stay on the line and explain what happened.
Mistakes happen and 911 call takers know that you aren’t trying to take them away from their life-saving roles. But if you do accidentally dial 911, the best thing you can do is just stay on the line, explain the situation, and wait until the 911 call taker tells you it’s okay to hang up.
I try to sit down and reflect at the end of every year. Well this year has given me a great deal on which to reflect. I know we can all agree 2020 has been different and full of more challenges than usual. As a public servant and a problem solver, I have tried to make sure the North Central Texas Emergency Communications District (NCT9-1-1) acted resourcefully (acting effectively or imaginatively, especially in difficult situations) and robustly (full of health and strength). Lucky for me, we have amazing NCT9-1-1 staff members who were eager to step up to the plate with their great ideas, exceptional skills, and impressive experience. Our number one commitment has been to support and advocate for our public safety answering points (PSAPs) while they have been making sacrifices to care for our communities and our safety. We launched COVID-19 resources including a website resource page and social media campaigns (2-1-1, general information, CDC requirements, etc.).
When I chose the word “resiliency” for 2020, this is not what I had in mind! However, we have all certainly proven resiliency this year. It reminds me of disaster planning where you have all the plans for bringing in a new generator in a power outage, but you never imagined you might have to use it exclusively for over two months and then would need to change belts and oil and conduct other long-term maintenance. It is one thing to have a plan and another to operate under that plan for so long. Nevertheless, we have had to persevere and endure in this pandemic with our continuity of operations plan (COOP) activated for over nine months and continued operations under the COOP anticipated for the foreseeable future. The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) and NCT9-1-1 have been working remotely since March, proving our ability to adapt. It is difficult not having face-to-face collaboration, but we have the tools and technology to allow us to communicate daily and take care of business.
Of course, you can always find the good in things if you look hard enough. This year we have had the forced opportunity to slow down. With a less hectic schedule we have been able to renew ourselves and practice more mindfulness. There has been an amazing amount of virtual training opportunities that have been free or low cost and allowed more of our district staff and PSAP personnel than ever to gain training they otherwise would not have gotten. “The new normal” has certainly taught us to be more patient, understanding, and tolerant as we hear the dogs barking on calls, look forward to the children of the house photo bombing our video calls, and accept that people on calls may being wearing ball caps, ponytails, and maybe even no makeup!
But it takes more than a pandemic to stop progress in 9-1-1! It was still a very busy year in the region. We welcomed Sunnyvale to our district when they were recognized by the Commission on State Emergency Communications (CSEC) as the 77th 9-1-1 entity in Texas at the CSEC May 19th Commission meeting. They have contracted for dispatching with Seagoville Police Department and executed an inter-local agreement (ILA) with NCT9-1-1 for 9-1-1 infrastructure and networking. We also said goodbye to the Dublin Police Department PSAP as they consolidated with the Erath Sheriff’s Office this year.
The data team continued working with our vendor to improve our analytics and worked with a major wireless carrier on a Real Time Text (RTT) pilot as we prepare to send letters of request to all carriers soon. The GIS team conducted an Emergency Call Routing Function (ECRF) upgrade, implemented automation, and a new schema. They also continued their ground-breaking work using drones for addressing and capturing 3D data.
Our trainers completed lesson plans for the new Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) Basic Telecommunicator Licensing Course. Our communications staff continued working on a public education digital strategy, which has improved our website traffic and increased online followers and engagements on social media. To mitigate problems reaching the public in a 9-1-1 service interruption, NCT9-1-1 was designated an Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Alerting Authority by FEMA and TDEM.
The support and strategic services teams continued to assist staff on multiple projects and everyday administration. As we examined systems and processes, they completed review of current governing documents (policies, processes, and guidelines), wrote or revised 30+ documents, and created a schedule for regular review. These documents help us to be efficient and consistent to remain resilient.
The technology team focused on mitigation, network design, and security. Indeed, they have proven these activities are not one-time projects, but ongoing and constant responsibilities. They also completed negotiations and executed an amendment with our next generation core services provider to their existing contract, which provides an upgrade in services without additional funding and extended the current contract.
Working on a new dispatch mapping product might have been the biggest project of the year. It encompassed every team. The year started by working with PSAPs and GIS professionals around the country to develop requirements, and then we moved right into procurement and eventually negotiations and awarding a contract with a strong scope of work. Of course, as with any new product, training is a vital part of implementation with a great deal of time and work to train over 500 telecommunicators (TCs). For the first time ever, the training for this implementation was virtual. In fact, the cutovers will be virtual as well. This comes at a great time when our regional COVID-19 cases have risen in the PSAPs. The new product is cloud-based with numerous new features we have never seen in a mapping product. NCT9-1-1 has worked closely with the vendor to test the product in our environment and the vendor has incorporated our feedback to improve the product even more. This is an example of innovation that will improve 9-1-1 services in the region and provide additional tools to our TCs. We look forward to full implementation in the new year!
Of course, none of this would have been possible without the support and willingness to change for improvement by our wonderful PSAPs. Your “can do” attitude and unflappability have always been evident, but never more than 2020. You have been a light in a time of darkness. You have answered your calling to serve your communities and never had the opportunity to remote from home or in some cases even socially distance. Our 9-1-1 TCs have been there for callers in need without fail. You have remained a constant and a calming voice as our first, first responders. You have not only survived in this pandemic, but you have thrived! Thank you. You are my heroes.
I am also very thankful for our vendor partners. They have continued to serve our region by developing and enhancing our products. They easily adapted to a virtual environment and have continued to be responsive to our needs and feedback.
So, as we say goodbye to 2020, I have to say it has not been all bad. However, I am truly looking forward to 2021. I have contemplated numerous words for the upcoming year and the one that keeps coming back to me is “courage.” I know that our TCs have been courageous this year, but our society has reached COVID-19 fatigue and we need courage to keep going and doing all the right things. Status quo is still not enough for this region, even in a pandemic. We must keep doing what is right and not what is easy. We cannot coast, but we must keep on keeping on. So, join with me in hope for a better future and belief that tomorrow will be better. Have courage to venture forward and be the best we can be. We can do this together! We will continue saving lives and making a difference!
9-1-1 is there to help during an emergency, but there are plenty of emergency apps, tools, and accessories that can help your local agency. Of course, the best way to reach 9-1-1 is still a voice call (followed by a text message if it’s available in your area), but using one of these resources can help 9-1-1 telecommunicators help you.
During the coronavirus pandemic, four non-profit organizations partnered with a 9-1-1 industry vendor to create the Emergency Health Profile Association. Signing up for an emergency health profile allows your information such as your name, address, pre-existing conditions, medications, emergency contacts, and more to be shared with a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP or call center) when you dial 9-1-1. The health information you provide is not Protected Health Information covered by HIPPA, but rather is subject to the profile’s privacy policy.
This information is provided through the RapidSOS, which is not an emergency app but a company that supplies a database to store additional information for 9-1-1 telecommunicators and is free to use for participating agencies. However, not all PSAPs utilize RapidSOS, though they are found in 4,700 PSAPs in the United States. All of PSAPs within the NCT9-1-1 service area are equipped to access RapidSOS. If you are unsure whether your local agency can utilize this data, you can always call them on their 10-digit number.
What3Words is a free mobile application that you can download to help identify your location and the locations of relevant landmarks, either in an emergency or just in general. They’ve divided the world into parking-space size squares and assigned three words to each square. For example, The Alamo in San Antonio has been assigned Axed.Limbs.Hops. By sending those three words to a friend or to a 9-1-1 call taker, they can plug the information into the desktop application to identify your location. You can look up the three words for your home address here.
Of course, this information is only useful if a 9-1-1 call taker is able to look up what location coordinates with the three words. The emergency number industry is starting to integrate this application with its tools, and NCT9-1-1 will soon implement a mapping platform that uses What3Words.
iPhones offer an in-house Health App that can be used to document pre-existing conditions, medications, and other information on your medical ID profile. You can also choose to have your medical ID information displayed on the lockscreen, which includes your name, age, and emergency contacts.
PSAPs who opt in to receive the information from the emergency health app will be able to view it during a 911 call and it is also seen if the Apple Watch fall detection feature is activated. Again, this information is only available to some PSAPs, so it’s still important to relay your medical information to the call taker during an emergency when possible.
The jewelry brand sells necklaces, bracelets, and keychains that include charms with hidden panic buttons. By pressing the back of the charm twice, an alert is sent via the InvisaWear app to five emergency contacts chosen by the wearer. These contacts receive a GPS location and S.O.S alert in a text message, and there is also an optional contact 9-1-1 feature.
There are a lot of emergency accessory brands that claim to reach 9-1-1 if activated, but it’s difficult to prove if the claims are true. InvisaWear is another organization that has partnered with RapidSOS, meaning agencies that utilize the services provided by RapidSOS have access to InvisaWear alerts.
A 9-1-1 telecommunicator will do whatever they can to identify your location and get help to you, but by downloading these emergency apps or utilizing one of the tools, you can get important information into the 9-1-1 agency faster.
Dublin, TX, October 28, 2020 – Today the Dublin Police Department closed its Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and will no longer answer 9-1-1 calls or dispatch responses. 9-1-1 calls made by citizens of Dublin will now be answered by the Erath County Sheriff’s Office located in Stephenville, Texas.
The Dublin Police Department was a two position PSAP that received 1,124 9-1-1 calls over the past year. The Erath County Sheriff’s Office has four positions and received 21,000 calls. Dublin officers will still respond to calls made within their jurisdiction.
Both the Dublin Police Department and the Erath County Sheriff’s Office are located within theNorth Central Texas Emergency Communications District (NCT9-1-1) service area. NCT9-1-1 is committed to providing PSAPs with the best resources and tools to serve citizens with a particular focus on early adoption in the emergency number industry. This includes text-to-9-1-1 and supplemental location for wireless calls. This superior level of service will continue to be offered to the citizens of Dublin.
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About the North Central Texas Emergency Communications District (NCT9-1-1)
The North Central Texas Emergency Communications District (NCT9-1-1) is responsible for 40 plus Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in the 13 counties surrounding the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The district supports these PSAPs through maintaining and upgrading 9-1-1 equipment, providing up-to-date mapping information, training 9-1-1 telecommunicators, educating the public on the proper use of 9-1-1, and monitoring PSAP functionality and compliances. NCT9-1-1 serves a population of 1.7 million and 10,000+ square miles.the best
