Pinellas County 911 center adds live stream video technology for emergency calls
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla - The Pinellas County Regional 911 Communications Center recently introduced a video to 911 technology that they say transforms how they respond to emergencies.
It allows callers to live stream video to 911 operators, and Pinellas County is one of the first in the Tampa Bay Area to use it.
What they're saying:
"If we find it useful or we need some video, we can send you a link," Ted Joyal, a 911 Operations Supervisor, said. "Once you click on that link, it'll ask you to agree to share your location, which is a huge piece of information that we need from everybody, as well as to start streaming the video."
The Pinellas County Regional 911 Communications Center has added live-stream video technology for emergency calls.
They’ve used it for calls that involve CPR to help coach the caller through the life-saving technique, and calls that involve estimating the severity of a situation, like fires. The technology can also be used to help law enforcement on the evidence side of things too. When the video ends, they also retain the records in case they’re needed for review, quality assurance, evidence or other reasons.
"Often, you can fully appreciate what's occurring when you have a visual aspect of it as opposed to just the audio," James Fogarty, Bureau Director at Pinellas County Safety and Emergency Services, said.
Big picture view:
The Pinellas County Regional 911 Communications Center launched the technology in September, and Joyal said it was vital during last year’s hurricanes.
"We were able to get eyes on somebody who was stuck in their house as it caught fire while there was a flood outside, and we were able to kind of triage and give them instructions on how to make themselves safe," Joyal said.
When the conditions made it hard or prevented first responders from getting to emergencies, 911 operators used the video to 911 tool to talk callers through situations.
They also used it to help first responders prioritize rescues with more than 600 calls coming in per hour for both storms.
"I want to emphasize not so much the technology, because the technology is impressive, but the skills of the call takers," Fogarty said. "There's a situation during the storm (Hurricane Helene) there was a caller that was trapped out on Howard Franklin Bridge, and with all of that technology, it really took the call-takers' talent to talk that person through at least six life-threatening situations that occurred from the initial car crash, to the car being pinned up against the jersey barrier on the bridge, to the water washing the person out," Fogarty said.
Joyal said they’ve also used it several times to help find missing people by sending the link to the person’s phone.
The Pinellas County Regional 911 Communications Center has added live-stream video technology for emergency calls.
"When you call 911, we get your location right away," he said. "Because you dial 911, it activates those features on your phone. But if you don't call 911, or you never called at all, we can't find you. We're able to push this link out to your phone number, and you can click share my location, and we can find you, so we were able to find an autistic child that was in crisis and their parents couldn't find them. We were able push the link out, and we were able to locate them. They agreed to share their location, and we found them using this technology," he said.
Joyal said the new app, combined with the texting 911 feature that has existed for a few years, allows callers to get help without a suspect finding out. Along with the video platform, the text 911 feature now lets the 911 operator communicate with the caller in more ways.
"Let's say you call 911 and hang up. I wouldn't be able to send you a text initially because you didn’t text 911. Now, I can send you text and still continue that conversation even after you've hung up. If you feel like you're not safe by staying on the phone, we can still communicate via text," Joyal said.
The caller or 911 operator can also hide the video from the 911 app so it will still record, but won’t show up on the phone’s screen.
READ: Pinellas leaders to weigh plan for $813M in hurricane relief funds
"It has been a very beneficial tool. Even if it's just one life that we save using it, it's going to make a huge difference in that person's family, in that person's life. So, we've already seen a big return on investment on this product," Joyal said.
The caller can also request that the 911 operator sends them the link if they believe they have valuable images or videos to share.
Joyal also stressed the importance of having your location services turned on overall.
"Even if you call 911, we're not able to find you unless you have your location services turned on. So, that's a big piece of information people need to know is to have their location services turned on so we can find them instantly. If that's turned on, I can see where you are within a couple feet and get people to you very quickly," Joyal said.
What's next:
Joyal said they’re evaluating and watching the technology’s other applications develop, like the ability to send live video to first responders on the road.
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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kailey Tracy.
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