Detour of 911 call from Evans detailed
Aide explains routing to Chautauqua center
The mystery of where Kelly Anne Scanlon’s 911 call went has been answered. But the problem will be around for a while.
On June 4, Scanlon, who has an Angola mailing address, used her cell phone to call 911 to report that her garage was ablaze. But the person who answered didn’t seem to know how to find Angola. A few harrowing moments later, the call from Scanlon’s home in the Lake Erie Beach area of Evans was transferred to someone who could help.
Scanlon's call went through the nearest cell tower, in northern Chautauqua County, and was relayed, as programmed, to the Chautauqua County 911 Center, said Peter M. Vito, Erie County’s commissioner for Central Police Services.
Chautauqua County personnel transferred the call by dialing the seven- digit phone number of the Erie County’s 911 center, Vito said.
Vito investigated Scanlon’s situation after an article in The Buffalo News. On Monday, he told an Erie County Legislature committee that his suspicions had been confirmed: Cell phone company software had directed Scanlon’s call to another county’s “public safety answering point.”
Legislator Timothy M. Wroblewski, D-West Seneca, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said he would like to call a meeting of emergency professionals to find a solution, for Erie County anyway.
“We need to do something sooner rather than later,” he said.
But Vito said any solution resides with the cell phone providers.
He said Erie County has some of the best technology available. It can locate cell phone callers to within a few feet. But it cannot ensure that every cell phone call for 911 service will go to Erie County’s 911 center when a cell tower in another county services the call—as was the case with Scanlon.
The problem is most acute with cell phone calls placed near county borders.
Scanlon no longer subscribed to a land line, so her Verizon Wireless cell phone was her best option to seek help.
“There are thousands of [answering points] around the country, so this is not a unique situation with us,” said Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman in New Jersey for Verizon’s wireless service. He said Verizon has helped communities devise systems to quickly relay calls between their answering points.
Scanlon said Monday she was gratified to hear that officials are focusing on the problem that her call highlighted, especially since cell phone bills carry fees assessed by both the county and state to enhance 911 service to deal with advances in wireless technology.
She remembers being caught up in confusion during her call for help.
“I’m looking at this phone, like, where is this going? What did I do?”
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