A series of letters to U.S. 911 centers from a new technology company has raised eyebrows over the service it provides, how it’s funded and how it might fit with 911 in the future. The episode put a spotlight on several companies that are marketing add-on products to existing 911 networks, even in the face of imminent technology changes that will convert 911 to a national, IP-based network. The letters began arriving last week from 911 Emergency Assist, according to several comm center managers. The letter invited centers to activate a pre-created Web account, and it provided a username and password. Essentially, the service allows citizens to subscribe for $99 (family plan) a year, store information that would be useful during and after an emergency, and for public safety dispatchers to access that information. Apparently as an incentive, participating comm centers would receive 50¢ per month for each subscriber within the agency’s jurisdiction. The service is scheduled to go live next month, and is now soliciting both comm centers participants and subscribing customers. The letters immediately raised questions from comm center managers, some involving the funding method for the service, others about procedural, privacy and liability issues, the technology, and how the service would integrate with future 911 technology plans. Several other companies provide emergency information services intended to provide 911 calltakers with caller or patient information, most notably the Smart911 service by Rave Mobile Safety. Read the company’s clarification of the service after the break. Update: In response to member concerns, on July 2nd the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) sent a formal letter of inquiry (pdf) to 911 Emergency Assist, asking specific questions about its service.
In response to the questions, Shelly Conner, 911 Emergency Assist’s Director of Agency Relations, posted the following information:
Right now it appears there are misconceptions about 911EA. This note is intended to address those concerns.
The most important thing I hope to get across to those with concerns is that 911EA is a service that they are being offered to HELP bridge a void that currently exists. I think one of the common threads in what I’m reading on here is a perception that 911EA is being forced on your 911 center and that it will require more work for dispatchers who are already overworked. Another common theme is the concern over the $.50 subscription revenue source. I’ll comment briefly on these issues below:
911EA was developed to assist with 3 areas when an individual cannot speak for themselves during an emergency:
1. Provide unique information about their household to assist a first responder
2. Provide their medical history to emergency medical personnel and ER staff
3. Provide notification to loved ones that they have been involved in an emergency (when they cannot speak for themselves)
We spoke with countless professionals in both the Emergency Response and Medical fields during the development phase, and they all indicated that if they could gain access to this information by simply logging onto a web portal that they would enthusiastically welcome this service.
Regarding family notification — This is done by clicking a link in our portal. Our system then completes the notification to the designated emergency contacts through text and email. There is no need for center personnel to contact family members. We designed this system so dispatchers and staff wouldn’t have this burden. When the account is activated, we request the center provide us with the non-emergency phone number they want calls to come in on, which allows the center Director to manage that communication.
This entire process occurs while your dispatcher is already in communication with the first responders handling the emergency. This family notification would not happen for random calls into 911.
We read in one post that a subscriber’s friends and relatives could be put in a panic over a fender bender they witnessed and were calling 911 to report. This is not how 911EA works; a 911 dispatcher would have no reason to access our portal and contact the family for that type of call.
Perceived liability issues with revenue sharing — this option was suggested to us by a State official we have been working with and we liked the idea of giving back something to the communities. Each state and county will have different rules for this—we may just provide donations for 911 community education to the state NENA organizations. Participation is totally voluntary, as is use of 911EA.
For any centers without Internet access, we will have 24/7 phone support.
Like with all things new, the first perception can many times be negative until it is understood.
Thus far the response has been overwhelmingly positive. We hope that with more communication from us along with education and training once our site is fully functional that we can help some of you that are hesitant and have concerns see that we are merely providing them with a tool that they have the option to use or not use. One of our co-founders is the wife of a police officer and she sincerely hopes that if there is information available that could help protect her husband when entering a household that the dispatch center would provide that to him.
This was designed with the help of your peers who shared with us the issues they face daily. It was with their help we were able to design a system that doesn’t require costly hardware or software to your center and as long as your dispatcher can access the internet or a phone when they are told they have a 911EA subscriber, they will be assisting in the family notification process and improving in the medical treatment of a victim that may not be able to provide their own medical history.
We weren’t able to find a service to provide all that 911EA encompasses so we decided to build one. We could find companies that could offer similar services as long as you were in your hometown, or you were calling from your cell phone or landline. We could find companies that allowed you to store your personal and medical health histories in a database and everything in between. We were unable however, to find a company to tie together the first responder, the emergency medical personnel and the family. 911EA is that company.
We fully acknowledge that the first mailing went out prematurely with the website having to be updated and the activation date pushed back to the 30th and we apologize. As a startup company these are some of the growing pains we’re experiencing. We are in the early stages and will not launch publicly until we have the majority of the nation’s 911 centers and hospital ER’s comfortable with this tool. In the coming weeks those of you who activate your pre-loaded 911EA account will have access to a short training video to share with your dispatchers along with communication tools to share with your first responder agencies.
We are open to any and all feedback and welcome it as we want this to be a tool that helps our communities, saves lives and makes information more easily accessible to improve the outcome of emergency situations.
When we do go live to the public, we will fully disclose that while we are offering this service to all 911 Centers and Hospital Emergency Rooms nationwide, it is at the discretion of each center/hospital whether or not they wish to have access to this tool. The June Newsletter that you received was for 911 Centers only; this was not a publication for consumers.
I hope I have addressed and answered most of your comments and concerns. I tried to cover all of the posts thus far. 911EA wants your feedback and we will continue to update you as we go through the pre-launch process.
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