Training: E911 and reporting an event.

· Cell phones are everywhere and chances are that you own one or two. But the more you know about how the system is set up, the better you will be at reporting an event.

· As you travel across a State, if you dial 911 on your cell phone, you will be connected with the closest 911 center to the tower you are talking to.

· 911 Centers are often called PSAPs, or Public Safety Answering Points. In Iowa, there are 128 of them. Obviously, some counties have more than one 911 center.

· Now, the problem in a metro area such as ours may be that you are just across the river in Iowa, but you are getting into a Nebraska tower. This would route your call to the nearest Nebraska PSAP or 911 center.

· 911 centers are aware of this situation and the first question they are likely to ask when they answer your call is “Where is the emergency?” or “What address is the emergency?” Here they are looking for the town or city and possibly an address or reference for your location as an answer. Just be ready for the question because if you give your location and you have reached the wrong PSAP, you do not need to call another number. The PSAP that you reached will route you to the correct 911 center...just stay on the line.

· If you want to dial into the Council Bluffs Center, you can use the following number: 712-328-5737. This number is answered by Council Bluffs 911 dispatch operators. I have this number programmed into my cell phone. I don’t want to make this a big issue. If you don’t know which Center to dial into, just dial 911. Each center can transfer you to the correct location at the touch of a button.

· Knowing where you are or your location will be a key bit of information you will need to think about before placing your call. Some common location indicators might be “mile-markers” on the interstate, landmarks such as buildings, water towers, power plants, bridges, etc. Take a look around you before you call. In town, use the nearest connecting street with the one you are on or nearest house address.

· Out on the open highway (non-Interstate), estimate the number of miles lets say, East of the last town you passed through, etc.

· It is possible to have a scenario where you are on the highway and it is dark. You may not really know where you are. What good would it do to call? Where life is involved, you need to call. You can at least give the highway you are on and perhaps if someone else stops to assist, they may know how to describe the location.

· In the future, when phase 2 for Cell phone towers is completed, cell phone towers will be able to report to the 911 center, your location as well as your phone number and the number of the tower you are using. So reporting your location will not be as important for you to know. But that could be several years off yet. E.g. 2005.

- -submitted by Terry Lindsley KSØL, 3/5/03