What can fast and accurate emergency caller location do for the safety of people? Here are some stories of how Advanced Mobile Location helped people in need.
Riding accident (Austria)
A woman had a riding accident and fell on her head. As a result, she was not able to think properly and describe her position to the emergency services. Luckily, the phone provided exact GNSS position, so she could be rescued.
Hikers lost (Belgium)
The Public Safety Answering Point of Liège received a call from hikers who could not describe their exact position. One member of the group had fallen and broken his leg and needed emergency assistance. Thanks to the accurate location information provided via AML, emergency services could easily identify the position of the caller in distress and provide the necessary help to the hikers.
Children unaware of their address (Estonia)
A 112-emergency call was dialled from a small town in Estonia. The callers were children who informed the call-taker that the toaster is on fire. They were not aware of their exact address; they knew the street name and flat number but not the house number. The call-taker used the location information she received with Emergency Location Service and quickly found the right house. The Estonian 112 service gave a dispatch order to rescue and ambulance units who quickly arrived at the scene and helped the children.
Car accident victims get help (Estonia)
There was a serious car accident on the road in one East-Estonia borough. The car drove off the road and crashed into a tree. The 112 call-centre received an emergency call. The area provided by the Mobile Network Operator had a radius of more than 868 meters. The radius received by the Emergency Location Service was 11 meters. The Estonian 112 could quickly dispatch the police, ambulance and rescuers, who arrived at the scene in 10 minutes. Injured people were hospitalized, and their lives were saved.
Collision in rural area (Estonia)
There was a deer-vehicle collision on the road in the rural area with no human casualties. People who were calling 112 couldn’t tell their exact location. The location area provided by the Mobile Network Operator was more than 25 km². With Emergency Location Service, the Estonian 112 service received the location with a radius of 12 m². The information about the accident was forwarded to police and to the environmental inspectorate.
Language issues (Finland)
One of the best examples of AML/ELS is related to addresses that have foreign words in the names. Finland has a lot of those, because the country is bilingual. For example, a caller can spell "Eekkerööntie" which can be in Finnish "Eckeröntie", "Ekeröntie" or in Swedish "Eckerövägen", "Ekerövägen". Those roads might be in different parts of Finland, so there is a high probability for a big mistake. Now the system shows the exact location and the spelling of the road in the map, so it saves a lot of time and keeps the call-taker´s focus on the call handling itself.
Caller in panic (Ireland)
A vehicle was caught on fire with someone trapped inside. A bystander is in a panic and either does not know or cannot explain the location. Stage 1 call taker (ECAS) gives precise location to Stage 2 Fire Call taker, explaining the exact address and that the vehicle is in the grounds or carpark of a named hotel. Fire services respond immediately. Exact location is handed over in less than one minute.
Calls dropping (Ireland)
Bystander calls looking at a fire but the call drops before the address is handed over. Stage 1 call taker (ECAS) gives precise location to Stage 2 Fire Call taker, explaining the exact address including house number and street. The ambulance responds immediately. The house on fire is a new one and, as a result, Fire mapping records did not show it.
Young child saves his father's life (Lithuania)
On 10 January 2017, an emergency call was received by a Public Safety Answering Point in Lithuania. The caller appeared to be a 7-year old boy, who reported he had found his father unconscious or dead. He informed the operator that he didn’t know his address or the telephone number of any of his relatives. Cell-ID location information received by the emergency services had a radius of 14 km. Fortunately the operator received the location via Android Emergency Location, with a radius of 6 metres. The police and ambulance services were dispatched, and the emergency responders provided medical care to the man who has now fully recovered.
Police saves a person from suicide in rail tracks (New Zealand)
New Zealand police received a call from a person having suicidal thoughts. The only information that the call-taker could get while speaking with the person was that the caller was next to a train station without knowing which one exactly. Thanks to AML/ELS, emergency services obtained a very accurate location information (4m radius) and found that the caller was on the rail tracks. Train control was immediately alerted, and police was dispatched on site to save the person.
Lost hikers (New Zealand)
A group tramping in the Bay of Plenty got lost. One member of the group was injured, and they had no food or water. They made a call to 111 from their mobile phone (which had a low battery). The call taker used the system to identify their location down to a six-metre radius. Police Search & Rescue were dispatched and the group was safely walked out of the bush a couple of hours later.
While on the street (Slovenia)
A man on the street had a heart attack. The emergency number was called by the random witness, but he didn't know the exact location. Thanks to AML/ELS, the operator saw the exact position of the caller. Luckily the rescuers came to the location just in time.
Car accident (Slovenia)
An operator shared a story about a car accident on the highway. An eyewitness called the emergency number. He was so terrified and confused that he couldn’t provide information about the location of the accident. Fortunately, he approximately knew the direction of the right location. AML/ELS provided a quick response (quick information) to the team rescues.
Unknown location (UK)
A person was attacked in a London park. He dialled the emergency number but he did not know which park he is in.
Caller with learning difficulties/mental limitations (UK)
Vulnerable male with severe learning difficulty who had been robbed. The call taker tried numerous times and ways to get a location, but with nothing forthcoming…then used AML/ELS (lat/long) and found the victim. It was later established that he had been sexually assaulted for over a year by the suspect. It is not clear how he could have been found without lat/long.
Suicidal emergency calls (UK)
The caller states that she is going to throw herself in front of the next train that comes along and refuses to give her location. Call taker uses initiative and identifies a station near the AML location. Call taker uses this as the location, passing to despatchers in just over a minute + police are on scene in 7 minutes locating the caller.
Stabbing victim unable to provide location verbally (UK)
A person had been stabbed near a community centre but did not know their exact location. AML/ELS allowed the location information of the person to be sent immediately and actually plotted the caller on a map to a distance of 18 feet (5m).