911 upgrade
Somerton debuts nextgeneration systems
SOMERTON — This city is the “point of the spear” for a state project to modernize the 911 emergency system that soon will allow callers to send text messages, photos and videos to provide more detailed information to police and firefighters.
All that’s waiting is the go-ahead from the state Department of Administration’s 9-1-1 Program Office to launch the system that will serve Somerton and eventually all of Yuma County.
Since March 9, the city has been gradually putting the new system into place in what will be the first big update of the 911 system since 2006.
“We are very excited about being the first city in the state that installed it, and because we are going from an antiquated (system) to what is called a new generation 911 system,” said Martha Esqueda, 911 communications supervisor for the Somerton Police Department.
The new system is a state pilot program that in the coming days will be expanded to include other public safety agencies in the county.
Basically, Esqueda said, a change in technology in a analogue program to an internet protocol allows 911 operators to receive not only voice communications, but text messages, photos and videos from people reporting emergencies.
Other functions of the upgraded system are already in use, such as the ability to have more detailed maps of locations of emergencies and photographic technology that allow operators to more precisely locate the locations of callers. The new system also provides detailed information about the identity, telephone number and location of callers when they are speaking on landlines.
But if the caller is talking on a cellphone, the system allows the operators to also see the phone number and, eventually, the name of the user.
“The difference is the image,” said Esqueda. “It’s super clear. And the system “allows us to be able to find the telephone number and location from where the user called, even if they’re not still on the line.”
Esqueda said the improvements to the 911 system could mean the difference between life and death in those instances when a caller cannot provide his or her location to the operator.
“A person who dials 911, if they have been injured in an accident or they have suffered a heart attack, may not know exactly where they are. At that point, it’s on us to help them as much as possible to take care of them.”
The new system makes use of communication towers to locate and track callers. Within 12 or 15 seconds, 911 callers can get information about their whereabouts.
Once the new system is in place, with the capability to receive text messages, photos and videos, operators will have more complete information about the nature of an incident being reported by the caller, Esqueda said. That, she added, will allow the operator to determine more easily if the incident is a true emergency and which public safety agency should respond.
Somerton’s 911 system “has undergone update procedures and various improvements, but this has been the most exciting development in the 24 years that I have been here. I know it’s going to be very good for the community.”
Following Somerton, other agencies where the new 911 system will be put into place are the Yuma Police Department, the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, Rural/ Metro Fire Department and finally the San Luis Police Department.