Moments are critical in emergency situations. Each moment that passes could mean the difference between life and death. In an emergency you want the police and paramedics to be able to find you quickly, even if you are unable to speak or communicate directly with them yourself.
Many of you reading this today may not know there was you could not simply pick up the phone and dial 911 to get help in an emergency. Before the 911 emergency system came along, people in need of emergency services had to dial separate phone numbers for the police, ambulance, or fire station, state their emergency, and give directions to their home or location in order for emergency personnel to be able to respond. Countless numbers of lives were lost by those who couldn’t communicate their locations to emergency dispatchers. But then the 911 system most of us don’t think about until or unless we are in an emergency situation, or witness to an emergency, was created.
The 911 system has many features that enable police and emergency services to be alerted and dispatched to the specific locations of emergencies quickly and even simultaneously, even when a caller cannot communicate with the emergency dispatcher. One feature is known as Enhanced 911 which uses reverse call technology to automatically display the address associated with the phone the caller is using. This is especially helpful in emergencies in which the caller is unable to speak to the dispatcher for fear of being detected by an intruder in the home, an abduction or bank robbery in progress, or due to language, hearing, and physical barriers that prevent direct communicating.
Enhanced 911 also works much the same with cell phones as it does with land line phones displaying the address associated with the phone automatically. Additional technology with cell phones include signals that are sent whenever a cell phone is in close proximity to a signal tower and GPS tracking which can be used for callers who cannot communicate with dispatchers and even to catch car thieves.
But wait, sure enhanced 911 is a great thing when you need it. It could even save your life or the life of someone else, because critical moments won’t be wasted trying to communicate your location to an emergency dispatcher while you are in crisis mode. But what about phone privacy, are governmental entities accessing your personal information every time you use your phone? No. Governmental agencies cannot access the information such as the address that is associated with your phone, except in the case of emergency when you dial 911, without securing a signed order giving them permission to access that information.
You can prevent others from seeing your information by using call blocker technology. But when you have been in an accident, are hurt, sick, have gone into sudden labor, or have just happened upon someone else in need of help, you will be happy that your number and location automatically displays on the emergency dispatchers screen if you are unable to talk or communicate somehow with them. When you need help you want the assurance of knowing the authorities headed your way and will be there as quickly as possible. Phone privacy is not a concern in those moments.
If you ever need to
find the owner of any U.S. phone number you can check out this resource.
