911 service

iPhone users will be able to automatically share their location with 911 operators in the event of an emergency.

This Apple Update Could Prove To Be A True Lifesaver

6:57pm June 18, 2018

by Cameron Jenkins

Apple says it's working with a startup to automatically share the locations of iPhone users with 911 operators in an emergency. Only 911 centers will have access to the information, Apple said.

Prosecutors said former 911 operator Crenshanda Williams was involved in thousands of very short emergency calls, triggering suspicion.

National

Former 911 Operator Who Cut Short Thousands Of Calls Is Sentenced To 10 Days

5:45pm April 19, 2018

by Bill Chappell

"Ain't nobody got time for this. For real," Williams reportedly was recorded saying after ending a call in which a security guard tried to report cars racing on a Houston-area interstate.

Ogechi Ukachu, one of the registered nurses recently hired to help staff D.C.'s "Right Care Right Now" program, takes a training call at the city's 911 call center.

Can Triage Nurses Help Prevent 911 Overload?

5:17pm April 19, 2018

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

One in four calls to the Washington, D.C., 911 line isn't an emergency. The city now has triage nurses working with dispatchers to get callers with less urgent needs a same-day clinic visit instead.

On display inside Haleyville City Hall: the red rotary phone that took the first 911 call, surrounded by a display of framed proclamations and newspaper clippings.

National

How A Sneaky Alabama Town Launched America's 911 System

3:38pm February 24, 2018

by Andrew Yeager

Fifty years ago, the Alabama Telephone Co. heard AT&T was creating a three-digit emergency number. So it decided to beat AT&T to the punch — and made the first 911 call in the town Haleyville.

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The Fairfax County 911 Center in Virginia takes calls during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. It was relatively easy to locate callers when most people used landlines. But most 911 calls now come from cellphones, which can pinpoint a callers' location only within

National

Calling 911 On Your Cell? It's Harder To Find You Than You Think

6:57pm October 23, 2014

by Lucy Perkins

If you call 911 from inside a tall building, emergency responders may have difficulty finding you. Cellphone GPS technology currently doesn't work well indoors — but the FCC hopes to change that.

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