Originally published February 16 2005
Georgia county can trace 911 calls from cell phones
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Houston County in Georgia now has the ability to trace emergency calls made from a cell phone, and can identify the caller's location to within 100 meters. Many phone customers are abandoning land lines and switching to cellular coverage for all their communication needs, increasing the need for the improved 911 service, according to local officials.
Houston County's E-911 Center can now pinpoint a cell phone caller's location within 100 meters, a feature that's expected to save lives.
But it's not a feature that's available everywhere.
In fact, some smaller counties in Georgia, such as Crawford County, don't even have the capabilities to trace a call from a home phone, much less pinpoint the location of a cell phone.
In Houston County, the new feature has been in effect for about a month, said Houston County sheriff's Capt.
The new technology, which gathers information from global positioning satellites, means that Houston County 911 operators will be able to find a person who may not be able to speak but who has been able to dial his or her cell phone, Harlowe said.
The system, for example, can track a critically injured motorist who's gone off an embankment but has no idea where he or she has crashed, Harlowe said.
In neighboring Bibb County, the E-911 Communications Center for Macon-Bibb County will add the ability to locate 911 cell-phone callers when its new $1.3 million computer-aided dispatching system goes online this year, said Macon police Lt.
Because there are not enough lines, the fees that can be generated per line to fund E-911 won't produce enough revenue for the construction of a 911 center, hiring and compensation of 911 operators and additional law enforcement officers to check each 911 call, he said.
Saving lives - if not the loss of lives - is what propelled the Federal Communications Commission to require cell phone companies to develop the technology to enable the pinpointing of the location of a cell phone caller.
Elaine Sexton, 911 program administrator for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said there have been cases across the country in which a person on a cell phone with 911 operators has died before his or her location could be determined.
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