Cell phones aren’t ideal security blankets

There’s great security in knowing that in the middle of a terrible emergency, if you can just make it to your phone and punch in 911, dispatchers can do the rest.

That security is padded by the common use of cell phones. Your car breaks down on the freeway, no problem. Call for help. Get lost while hiking, no problem. Call for help. Choke on your dinner — whoa, problem. Call 911, but there’s no guarantee the dispatcher will be able to figure out where you are to send help.

Until a new system kicks in that helps dispatchers trace a cell phone caller’s location using mapping technology, cell phone lovers shouldn’t be so quick to toss the land line.

Cell phone users recently started paying the same small tax that land-line users pay for enhanced 911 — 70 cents a month. Most of that goes to the user’s county wireless 911 system and a small part is the state wireless 911 tax, which helps smaller areas that don’t have a big enough cell-phone tax base to support their own system.

A streamlined and equal system is critical. Fortunately, the Federal Communication Commission is requiring mapping technology to be available everywhere by the end of 2005. Snohomish County should be ready to go this year, possibly by September. The system allows dispatchers to pinpoint the longitude and latitude of the caller’s location. From there, they can pretty much figure out where to send emergency crews.

It’s good to see officials reacting quickly and thoroughly. But the new system won’t be a cure-all. Cell phones can still cut out during a call, as many know. And they’re just as vulnerable to service disruption and busy signals during major disasters such as earthquakes.

With our society as mobile as it is people are spending more and more time on the go than at the ranch, and the possibility of emergencies occurring away from home is significant. While officials and technology gurus are busy updating such services, it’s up to the rest of us to be as safe as possible. That means not depending on a cell phone exclusively to keep you safe. You still need to know the roads you’re driving on, keep the emergency kits in the trunk when you’re traveling and pack the compass and change of clothes when you go hiking.

The latest phones might come equipped with positioning systems, mini computers and cameras — and that’s just for starters — but they’re no replacement for common sense and preparedness.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

A Volunteers of America Western Washington crisis counselor talks with somebody on the phone Thursday, July 28, 2022, in at the VOA Behavioral Health Crisis Call Center in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: Dire results will follow end of LGBTQ+ crisis line

The Trump administration will end funding for a 988 line that serves youths in the LGBTQ+ community.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Tuesday, July 8

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Comment: Students can thrive if we lock up their phones

There’s plenty of research proving the value of phone bans. The biggest hurdle has been parents.

Dowd: A lesson from amicable Founding Foes Adams and Jefferson

A new exhibit on the two founders has advice as we near the nation’s 250th birthday in the age of Trump.

GOP priorities are not pro-life, or pro-Christian

The Republican Party has long branded itself as the pro-life, pro-Christian party.… Continue reading

Was Republicans’ BBB just socialism for the ultra-rich?

It seems to this reader that the recently passed spending and tax… Continue reading

Comment: $100 billion for ICE just asks for waste, fraud, abuse

It will expand its holding facilities, more than double its agents and ensnare immigrants and citizens alike.

toon
Editorial: Using discourse to get to common ground

A Building Bridges panel discussion heard from lawmakers and students on disagreeing agreeably.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, June 27, 2025. The sweeping measure Senate Republican leaders hope to push through has many unpopular elements that they despise. But they face a political reckoning on taxes and the scorn of the president if they fail to pass it. (Kent Nishimura/The New York Times)
Editorial: GOP should heed all-caps message on tax policy bill

Trading cuts to Medicaid and more for tax cuts for the wealthy may have consequences for Republicans.

Alaina Livingston, a 4th grade teacher at Silver Furs Elementary, receives her Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic for Everett School District teachers and staff at Evergreen Middle School on Saturday, March 6, 2021 in Everett, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: RFK Jr., CDC panel pose threat to vaccine access

Pharmacies following newly changed CDC guidelines may restrict access to vaccines for some patients.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Monday, July 7

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Comment: Supreme Court’s majority is picking its battles

If a constitutional crisis with Trump must happen, the chief justice wants it on his terms.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.