Smartphone Location and Identity Storage for PSAP Emergency Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Emergency calls placed by individuals not directly involved in the emergency often result in confusion and errors due to jurisdictional discrepancies, as the caller and the person in need are not in the same location, leading to challenges in situational awareness for public-safety answering point (PSAP) operators.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that stores and shares location and identity information of recent calls between devices, allowing PSAP operators to receive notifications and access prior call details when an emergency call is made, enabling accurate routing and dispatch to the correct jurisdiction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a loved one calls a PSAP after receiving a call from someone in emergency, then the loved one can seek help, but the PSAP operator cannot accurately determine the emergency location due to jurisdictional discrepancies
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically detecting and storing location and identity information of prior callers before the emergency call is placed. When a loved one calls the PSAP, the system has already captured the location and identity of the person who originally called the loved one, making this information immediately available to the operator without requiring manual collection.
Solution Approach 2:
The system acts as an intermediary between the prior caller, the loved one, and the PSAP operator. It automatically transfers location and identity information from the prior caller through the loved one's device to the PSAP operator, eliminating the information gap that would otherwise exist when the loved one places the emergency call from a different location.
2Ease of operation
If the PSAP operator receives an emergency call from someone not at the emergency location, then help can be sought, but confusion and errors occur due to jurisdictional mismatches
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides feedback to the PSAP operator by automatically supplying location and identity information about the prior caller. This feedback mechanism allows the operator to understand the true emergency location and jurisdiction, enabling accurate routing of emergency services even when the current caller is not physically present at the emergency scene.
3Loss of information
If the system stores and shares location and identity information of recent calls, then PSAP operators gain situational awareness, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by automatically detecting, storing, and transferring location and identity information without requiring manual intervention from the user. The device autonomously manages the information lifecycle - capturing it when a call is received, retaining it in storage, and transmitting it to the PSAP when an emergency call is placed, thereby minimizing user burden despite the underlying system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for providing prior-caller location and/or identity into a public-safety answering point is provided herein. During operation, a device such as a smart phone will store location and identity information for recently-received calls. If the device places a call to a PSAP within a predetermined amount of time from when the prior call was received at the device, a flag is sent to the PSAP operator notifying the PSAP operator of the prior call. The PSAP operator can then inquire about the prior call. The caller is then allowed to electronically transfer location and identity information related to the prior call to the PSAP operator if they wish to do so.