Appalachian Tater
10-30-2007, 14:15
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/4416705.html
Cell phone technology helps searchers pinpoint the lost
By Betty Jespersen, Staff Writer
Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel
10/28/07
Two hikers on Cranberry Peak off the Appalachian Trail got turned around on their way to the parking area off Route 27. By 7:30 p.m. they conceded they were lost.
A woman whose all-terrain vehicle got stuck in a remote area of Chesterville, stranding her and her daughter, didn't know her directions or how to get help.
What the two groups had in common: cell phones with a global positioning system, or GPS, locator inside that was activated when they dialed 911.
It meant dispatchers at the Franklin County Sheriff's Office could not only pinpoint their locations but also guide them out by following their progress across a virtual landscape on their communications center computer.
"We are now telling people who plan to be involved in outside activities to take their cell phones, especially if they will be in remote areas," said Mark Michaud, the public information director of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Growth of cell phone use in Maine and nationwide has exploded. The number of state cellular customers exceeds 675,000, up from 368,000 in 2001, nearly matching wired phone customers, according to the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
Initially there had been concern that backcountry cell phone users would abuse the rescue system and seek help for minor problems. But state officials say that has not happened.
Instead, advances in cell phone technology and a new generation of computer mapping software and hardware in use at state regional dispatch centers enables emergency workers to find people quickly to save lives, or even guide them to safety.
Cell phone service is still sketchy in many remote areas.
But if a signal can be picked up, callers in distress -- whether lost in the woods or injured on a trail -- are usually told to sit tight and wait for help. Since wardens and rescue personnel are now equipped with GPS devices, they can make a beeline to their location if they get the phone's latitude and longitude coordinates from a dispatch center.
Being able to safely guide a person out remotely is a new and welcome development, Michaud said.
The coordinates from the rescuers' cell phone signals are also vital, said Maine's 911 operations manager Steve Bunker.
A firefighter's phone can relay coordinates of a landing zone set up for a LifeFlight of Maine medical helicopter. Command centers can use a phone's coordinates to monitor the location of rescue teams on their way into a site.
"Now we can plot a rescue. That is an added and growing benefit of this new technology," he said.
Michaud said cell phone calls to the state's Public Service Answering Points, or regional dispatch centers, can cut down on the time and manpower costs of mobilizing backwoods search and rescue operations that turn out to be unnecessary.
There have been at least 12 cases in Maine the past year where cell phones made a positive difference in the level of response, he said.
The Franklin County dispatchers who aided the lost callers in October were Stanley Wheeler and Matthew Billian.
Wheeler said when the ATV rider called in on her cell phone, a small icon in a circle appeared on his map of the area on his computer monitor. He helped guide her toward the nearest road and she eventually saw a logger who offered to get her ATV back on the trail.
The Cranberry Peak hikers were experienced, had a compass and were well equipped but due to an incorrect sign, took a wrong turn. They called 911 from somewhere around the Stratton Brook Pond Road and were amazed to find they had cell service, officials said.
Billian said he could see on his map the signal was coming from a spot about two miles from their destination. At first the turned-around hikers didn't believe he could follow their progress on his computer until he told them to take a turn. When they didn't and then had to turn back, they were convinced, he said.
They came out on a logging road where Billian had arranged to have a Carrabassett Valley police officer waiting to drive them back to their car. "It was pretty cool," Billian said.
Bob Gartley of U.S. Cellular's Portland office, said phones manufactured in the past five years are mandated by federal law to be GPS-enabled with tiny locators that automatically transmit location to when 911 is pressed. "The intended consequence was to send people in for help. The ability to guide people out is an unforeseen benefit," he said. "This is another example of how beneficial it is to have cell phone service out in rural areas."
Al Gervenack, the director of the state's 911 office, said people should not get overly confident in the system. Cell phone power is weak and cell towers are limited, he said. "Sometimes we can get a signal from a general area (of a tower) and sometimes it can be very, very accurate," he said. "If they have good, accurate location (dispatchers) can walk them out."
Right now, the maps only display roads but Gervenack hopes to add snowmobile trails and the Appalachian Trail in the future.
Cell phone technology helps searchers pinpoint the lost
By Betty Jespersen, Staff Writer
Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel
10/28/07
Two hikers on Cranberry Peak off the Appalachian Trail got turned around on their way to the parking area off Route 27. By 7:30 p.m. they conceded they were lost.
A woman whose all-terrain vehicle got stuck in a remote area of Chesterville, stranding her and her daughter, didn't know her directions or how to get help.
What the two groups had in common: cell phones with a global positioning system, or GPS, locator inside that was activated when they dialed 911.
It meant dispatchers at the Franklin County Sheriff's Office could not only pinpoint their locations but also guide them out by following their progress across a virtual landscape on their communications center computer.
"We are now telling people who plan to be involved in outside activities to take their cell phones, especially if they will be in remote areas," said Mark Michaud, the public information director of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Growth of cell phone use in Maine and nationwide has exploded. The number of state cellular customers exceeds 675,000, up from 368,000 in 2001, nearly matching wired phone customers, according to the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
Initially there had been concern that backcountry cell phone users would abuse the rescue system and seek help for minor problems. But state officials say that has not happened.
Instead, advances in cell phone technology and a new generation of computer mapping software and hardware in use at state regional dispatch centers enables emergency workers to find people quickly to save lives, or even guide them to safety.
Cell phone service is still sketchy in many remote areas.
But if a signal can be picked up, callers in distress -- whether lost in the woods or injured on a trail -- are usually told to sit tight and wait for help. Since wardens and rescue personnel are now equipped with GPS devices, they can make a beeline to their location if they get the phone's latitude and longitude coordinates from a dispatch center.
Being able to safely guide a person out remotely is a new and welcome development, Michaud said.
The coordinates from the rescuers' cell phone signals are also vital, said Maine's 911 operations manager Steve Bunker.
A firefighter's phone can relay coordinates of a landing zone set up for a LifeFlight of Maine medical helicopter. Command centers can use a phone's coordinates to monitor the location of rescue teams on their way into a site.
"Now we can plot a rescue. That is an added and growing benefit of this new technology," he said.
Michaud said cell phone calls to the state's Public Service Answering Points, or regional dispatch centers, can cut down on the time and manpower costs of mobilizing backwoods search and rescue operations that turn out to be unnecessary.
There have been at least 12 cases in Maine the past year where cell phones made a positive difference in the level of response, he said.
The Franklin County dispatchers who aided the lost callers in October were Stanley Wheeler and Matthew Billian.
Wheeler said when the ATV rider called in on her cell phone, a small icon in a circle appeared on his map of the area on his computer monitor. He helped guide her toward the nearest road and she eventually saw a logger who offered to get her ATV back on the trail.
The Cranberry Peak hikers were experienced, had a compass and were well equipped but due to an incorrect sign, took a wrong turn. They called 911 from somewhere around the Stratton Brook Pond Road and were amazed to find they had cell service, officials said.
Billian said he could see on his map the signal was coming from a spot about two miles from their destination. At first the turned-around hikers didn't believe he could follow their progress on his computer until he told them to take a turn. When they didn't and then had to turn back, they were convinced, he said.
They came out on a logging road where Billian had arranged to have a Carrabassett Valley police officer waiting to drive them back to their car. "It was pretty cool," Billian said.
Bob Gartley of U.S. Cellular's Portland office, said phones manufactured in the past five years are mandated by federal law to be GPS-enabled with tiny locators that automatically transmit location to when 911 is pressed. "The intended consequence was to send people in for help. The ability to guide people out is an unforeseen benefit," he said. "This is another example of how beneficial it is to have cell phone service out in rural areas."
Al Gervenack, the director of the state's 911 office, said people should not get overly confident in the system. Cell phone power is weak and cell towers are limited, he said. "Sometimes we can get a signal from a general area (of a tower) and sometimes it can be very, very accurate," he said. "If they have good, accurate location (dispatchers) can walk them out."
Right now, the maps only display roads but Gervenack hopes to add snowmobile trails and the Appalachian Trail in the future.