911 & cell phone question

a guy , (Andy) from work told me he was out in San Fran. this week and pulled a guy out of a car wreck...
the car over-corrected and then it hit the merridian and flipped over.
He and Jeff 9another co-worker) got the guy out and a woman who identified herself as a nurse came on the scene so they got back in their car and resumed their journey..
however, neither one could get through to 911...
others called I'm sure

but

Do cell phones work in calling the closest 911 center or would a New York State cell phone get new york 911?
How does it know where to go when you dial 911???

I can't give the definitive answer, but I've called 911 on my cell phone three times. Once was in Suffolk County, NY and I got New York City 911- about 50 miles away, but they almost immediately transferred me to Suffolk 911. Once at Jones Beach in Nassau County, where I got Nassau 911, but needed to be transferred to the State Park Police and once in NYC where I got NYC 911. My cell is a 516 area code so default 911 would be Nassau County.

Calling 911 on a cell does not always get you the correct dispatch area. It just depends on where the closest cell tower routes the calls to. Sometimes dispatchers are bright enough to figure out someone is trying call the wrong dispatch, but not always. There have been several recent cases in the news where the local squad/dept was dispatched and they could not find the scene due to the fact that they were going to the wrong town. Many areas all have a Main St or streets with the same names. Another thing--most systems can not trace a 911 call like ones made from a home/land line.

Also be warned--don't give a child a old cell phone to play with. Even though it may be a canceled line, if it has a charge they can still call 911 on the phone.

You could probably dial "0" for the operator and they could transfer you to the local 911 number or the local police.

I'm retired from the phone co. (land line) and have told many not to give up their land lines if at all possible. If only for one reason - connecting to 9-1-1 so your exact location can be found.

Last week Dr. Oz had a lady on explaining do's and don'ts of calling 9-1-1. One of the suggestions: if you have a choice to call from a cell phone or a land line - USE THE LAND LINE! Not all cell phones are capable of giving your 'exact' location.

Each cell tower is associated to a geographic PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point). If a New York cell phone was visiting me in Jasper County Missouri, and dialed 911, the cell tower handling the call would connect it to the tower’s associated PSAP:



PSAP ID PSAP Name

3771 Carthage Police Department Jasper Carthage S PSAP is either a a Duplicate or Secondary PSAP. Calls are handled by PSAP #3829
3829 Jasper County 9-1-1 Center MO Jasper Carthage
3830 Jasper County Sheriffs Office MO Jasper Carthage S
PSAP is either a Duplicate or a Secondary PSAP. Calls are handled by PSAP #3829
3834 Joplin Police Department MO Jasper Joplin

jhowell provided the answer that I understand in Northern California.

The cell towers will attempt to roughly locate (through triangulation) where you are. If you are deemed in a municipality, your call is sent to local emergency dispatch. However, if your call is thought to be on a highway, your call is routed to Highway Patrol.

As people above said, if you're near a land line -- it's best to use that because there's an address associated with that landline.

Of course the 911 feature on cell phones that give your location ONLY works if it is turned on.

Don't worry, the default mode is for the feature to be enabled.

My cell phone is ancient and doesn't have GPS technology. I still get connected to the nearest 911 dispatcher when I call.

As jhowell said, it's based on what tower is providing the connection to your phone when you make the call. As such, you'll frequently (but not always) get the correct 911 dispatch center when you call.

Here in Minnesota, traffic incidents on the freeway are handled by the State Patrol, while incidents on secondary roads are handled by the local police departments. If I call 911 because of an incident on the freeway, but I'm traveling in the metro area at the time, I'll generally be connected to the local city's 911 dispatcher, who will then transfer the call to the State Patrol.