From E911 to NG911..

[LucidResq]

I don't think it would be practical to use as a main mean of communication but rather a backup or as an alternative.

The problem is, if this becomes available a very large number of people will start using it as the primary way to contact 911. See, most of you are rational people who know something about the emergency response system. Most of you would realize when it would appropriate to text 911 and when it would be better to call. Most of you know that if you were to send a text, you would send something like "1234 Main St. Someone breaking into my house right now." If semi-educated folks with knowledge of how emergency services work were the only people using this system, it'd be great.

I think some of you are imagining using such technology yourself and forgetting that 96% of the people who call 911 don't know where they are, don't know what we need to know, don't know what we can and can't do and need quite a bit of guidance just to get the right help started to the right place (never mind any directions such as "don't shove a sandwich in the seizing man's mouth" and "evacuate the burning house"). Texting would either remove or severely delay this guidance.

The use of multimedia messaging service (MMS) or short messaging service (SMS) can greatly help responders. Say a caller contacts the police about a fight or medical emergency. More time than not that person is going to be a bystander and can take pictures to assist cops in the apprehension of offenders or assist EMS in the evaluation of the incident.

If it's a picture of the suspect, why does the 911 operator need to see it? We can get a description of the suspect for officers while they're on their way so they can keep their eye out, but anything more isn't necessary. We apprehend plenty of people this way.

If they have a picture they can show it to officers once they arrive. I don't care what someone's cheekbones look like. A description of the suspect's vehicle, direction of travel, age, gender, race, build, clothing and anything distinguishing (facial hair, platinum grill etc) is plenty for officers to keep an eye out in the 5 minutes while they drive to the scene.

In what kind of situation would having a picture en route to an EMS call be helpful?

My theory is, if we got it, use it!

Again, cost vs. benefit. We can play the what-if game all day long but at the end of the day the cost and pitfalls of implementing a technology must be weighed against the potential benefit such a tool would provide in a 1 in 1000 type of call.

What if the bad guy steals my one and only phone but I have my WiFi-connected laptop and want to Twitter 911? What if I only speak French... why should I have to wait an additional 3-4 minutes for an interpreter when you can just train 911 operators to speak French? Why don't we equip every ambulance in the country with a $10,000 pocket ultrasound?