Wireless emergency routing on empirical data: shaving time saves lives

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to illustrate the outcomes of the RED (Routing on Empirical Data) Project, a three year cross‐jurisdictional collaborative undertaking in the State of California that significantly improved the efficiency of the State's wireless 9‐1‐1 emergency communications system.Design/methodology/approachThe Project's approach looked at historical wireless call data over a three‐year period and created accurate jurisdictional shapefiles to identify actual call origination and determine statistically which Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) should receive wireless 9‐1‐1 calls routed to a particular wireless sector.FindingsThe findings or outcomes of the project were that busy signals previously in the 9‐1‐1 system were dramatically reduced to 2.3 per cent of total call volume in 2011 from 42.4 per cent of total call volume in 2007. This occurred with a concurrent 29 per cent increase in call volume over the same time period.Practical implicationsThe practical and social implications for improvement in public safety are significant given the improvements in emergency response time that the project's outcome provides. Exponential increases in wireless phone usage over the past decade makes review of emergency communication infrastructure essential to ensure expeditious delivery of emergency services to the 9‐1‐1 calling public. Whether fire, ambulance or law enforcement response is required, when delay is inserted into the process of answering 9‐1‐1 calls, a reduction in the likelihood of a positive outcome occurs.Originality/valueThe outcomes of the RED Project show that Local and State government collaboration using empirical data studies can ensure emergency communication systems are optimized and ready for Next Generation technologies.