Rural First | Family/Home

911 and the Difficulties That Have Arisen

May 17, 2016
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This past Sunday, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, a comedy news show on HBO, discussed a problem that Rural First has been speaking to since our inception. Emergency call centers and first responders are in desperate need of funding and new GPS tracking/GIS mapping technology. The United States makes over 240 million 911 calls every year, and the system breaks down often enough to take notice.

Like this story of GPS and GIS issues affecting 911 operators first reported by CBS46 in Atlanta, GA.

The pond Shanell Anderson drove into.

Shanell Anderson, 31, of Atlanta, GA who lost control of her SUV and drove into a local pond while delivering newspapers around 4:15 a.m. one morning. In the released 911 call, Anderson was initially calm as she told the dispatcher she was sinking into the pond while inside her vehicle. The dispatcher repeatedly asked Anderson for an address, telling the woman the information she was giving couldn’t been found in the system. Anderson attempted to repeat her location several times, each time with a more urgent tone, before finally being disconnected with the dispatcher.

After the original 911 call, the dispatcher placed another call to an unknown official, and the two worked together to try to locate the woman. In the second call, the dispatcher advised that she had already sent emergency crews to several areas with water as they tried to locate the woman.

This problem seems to be a surprisingly growing issue as GPS technology and GIS map correction for 911 departments lags behind other private entities. This is why Rural First provides affordable solutions to rural counties that otherwise could not afford them. You can watch the full episode of Last Week Tonight and the problems faced by 911 operators below.

*The following video from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) does have very coarse language. If you are easily offended, it is recommended you don’t watch.

The Golden Hour: The 60 Minute Difference Between Life and Death.

It was only a few years ago that the founder of Rural First, Rob Woolsey, was forced to grieve the loss of his mother. Due to inaccurate GIS mapping, First Responders were unable to arrive in time to save her life. Unless you are personally affected like Robb, or a first responder serving a rural area, you might not realize the difference a strong and efficient GPS tracking solution like Rural First can make when it comes to public safety.

At Rural First, we believe that GPS tracking solutions are so much more than just a route mapping tool. Our product gives you complete information about your fleet at a glance. Rural First places great emphasis on situational awareness, ensuring that emergency response vehicles are able to respond to calls immediately and arrive on-time. With our accurate mapping data, you will not only be able to effectively route your First Responders to call locations, but you will see the exact location and state of each vehicle, siren and light activity, and vehicle fuel and maintenance status. You’ll be at peak performance, on-time, every time.

The US National Library of Medicine notes that: “morbidity and mortality are affected if care is not instituted within the first hour after injury”. Emergency responders refer to this time period as the ‘Golden Hour.’ It is described as the time between receiving a call, locating a vehicle, dispatching the team, and arriving on the scene. First Responders, the Golden Hour can be the difference between life and death. We have found this to be true time and time again. In the case of Robb’s mother, the EMT should have arrived within 6 minutes of the phone call.

However, due to inaccurate directions, it took them 45 minutes to arrive. In fact, as Mrs. Woolsey was fighting to breathe, the ambulance sped past her home. By providing the most accurate routing and mapping information, ensuring that the closest unit is dispatched, and ensuring that EMTs receive correct turn-by-turn directions, Rural First has significantly increased the odds of reaching the call within the golden hour.

Route navigation for emergency response vehicles is a matter of life and death in many situations. A few years ago I took a trip to the ER by ambulance. I was at home and feeling faint, luckily I turned out to be ok. While we were speeding to the hospital I remember thinking, why on earth are they taking the longest route possible? Are they not from here? Do they have to follow very specific directions given to them by dispatch? Despite my unwelcome attempts to assist with their driving from the gurney, we arrived 7 minutes later than necessary.

Dispatchers using GPS tracking solutions can ensure that first response drivers are not only taking the quickest routes to their emergency calls but the safest routes as well. By being able to determine whether a route is taking first responders thru an area where there are one-ways or road closures, valuable minutes can now be spent saving lives. Our goal at Rural First is to decrease dispatch times to emergency calls, save more lives, and ensure the safety of First Responders and the communities they serve.

The American Rural Mapping Initiative

As you may or may not know, 97% of the country is classified as small town rural America. And the current commercial mapping in those areas is incredibly inaccurate. Many of the address points, especially residential do not exist, and the street names in the maps do not match the street names on the road signs. In order for the American Rural Mapping Initiative to be successful and provide first responders with the accurate data, they need to arrive on scene quicker and save more lives we need your local data. To date, we have worked with and mapped 128 counties throughout the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri. The tracking and routing services utilized by our First Responders through the RuralFirst web map application relies heavily on accurate road centerlines with address ranges and 9-1-1 address points.

Please contact us if you are able to provide any mapping data for your county, so that we can better serve the First Responders in your area.