i911 System?

[Jamme]

Hi, has anyone heard of this system or had any experience with it?
Apparently the US Coast Guard has started using it: https://content.govdelivery.com/acco...letins/28b3a2a

[tkeithlu]

Have they moved it beyond Hawaii? As a system, it's a no-brainer, using the cell phone location to find the boat is distress, with a back-and-forth asking permission to use location data. Personally, if I'm in so much trouble that I need the Coast Guard, I'd prefer that they didn't have to ask, and would have the location automatically, sort of a blanket "If you need rescue, that constitutes permission to know where you are."

I'll bet that the overwhelming majority of distress calls are from within cell phone range.

[DefinitelyMe]

Really good idea. And no reason why the same thing couldn't be applied to other types of SAR. Mountain SAR for example. Or calling an ambulance from a roadside. One concern might be that if the technology becomes widespread the SAR services will lose the skills to find people without it. I.e. another example of "if you don't have a phone you're out of luck"

[SVHarmonie]

Originally Posted by DefinitelyMe

Really good idea. And no reason why the same thing couldn't be applied to other types of SAR. Mountain SAR for example. Or calling an ambulance from a roadside. One concern might be that if the technology becomes widespread the SAR services will lose the skills to find people without it. I.e. another example of "if you don't have a phone you're out of luck"

My first thought when I read the above comment was, "Ah, come on..." then I remembered...

A boat calling the USCG for assistance. The USCG radio operator asked the boat for their location, and the response was given in terms of a prominant local geographic landmark, "I'm 1.5 miles southeast of Point Lana." The USCG asked for his GOPS coordinates, which he didn't have because his electrical system was down. They couldn't figure out where he was!!!! Finally a local good Samaritan broke in and gave them an approx lat/lon they could program into their system, and all was better.

I was a bit horrified...

[Jamme]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Personally, if I'm in so much trouble that I need the Coast Guard, I'd prefer that they didn't have to ask, and would have the location automatically, sort of a blanket "If you need rescue, that constitutes permission to know where you are."

Apparently there’s also a way to have location shown automatically, see https://i911.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ar...oes-i911-work- : “The process begins with a verified first responder creating a free account at i911.com, then entering the mobile number of the emergency caller. If the caller is actively connected with or has recently contacted 911, precise automatic device location may be immediately available without any further action. The caller’s location information displays as a map marker on the dispatcher’s screen.”

Just curious if you all think this is a great idea or just another gadget in the plethora of internet-era things... maybe the next garmin will come with a SIM card to enable this type of communication, who knows.

[CaptTom]

My first thought was that opening a browser on a cell phone, then selecting options to allow a web site to access location data, seems a bit much to expect someone to do in a distress situation.

On the other hand, for a boater who only has (or only knows how to use) a cell phone, and has no clue about latitude or longitude, it may be ideal. Likewise for the CG communication watchstander, who is likely to be of the native cell phone generation.

From my experience, the watchstanders tend to keep asking for information which has already been passed. Maybe they missed it the first time because they were on a different line on the checklist, or maybe the case has been passed along to a central station or a different watchstander. Not sure why but it's pretty frustrating when you're trying to deal with an emergency situation and keep being asked the same questions. So anything which can get the information down without additional VHF traffic is probably a good thing.