ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh County's emergency dispatchers will have a new tool for when residents call 911.
County Executive Phil Armstrong on Wednesday unveiled that video call has been added as an option for 911 Communications Center operators, letting them send a text with a website link to the number to which they are speaking.
If the caller chooses to open the link and gives permission when prompted, the 911 operator then will be able to see the camera of the caller's cell phone.
The new service would not be used for every call, but can give an important window into the surroundings of an emergency situation if the operator feels it can help.Lehigh County Executive Phil Armstrong
County officials said the new method can get important information to emergency responders on hazards and needs, and can help get better responses to callers.
The service now is available for Lehigh County 911 calls, according to the county.
Armstrong said the new service would not be used for every call, but can give an important window into the surroundings of an emergency situation if the operator feels it can help.
Getting ready for new system
The county is working with technology vendor Prepared Live through its free tier of service, which officials said will have no cost impact on the county, and by extension taxpayers.
"The program itself, I think because of what it will do for our police, our firemen, for our EMTs, for somebody who is out of town and is visiting and has an issue but he or she doesn't know where she is, to be able to give us a visual, to be able to talk to a 9-year-old whose father is laying on the floor and choking and not knowing what to do," Armstrong said.
"To be able to see that, to be able to help him through — these are all of the things that there is technology [for, so] why aren't we using it? Well, my answer is: Lehigh County is."Lehigh County Executive Phil Armstrong
"To be able to see that, to be able to help him through — these are all of the things that there is technology [for, so] why aren't we using it?
"Well, my answer is: Lehigh County is."
The service also allows callers to send video or photos in addition to or instead of live video calls.
Lehigh County 911 Director Don Smith said as the process comes into use, the center will undergo a process to work out difficulties with the new program, and train the operators.
If a graphic situation is presented, operators have the option to blur the video while communicating with the caller, but the video will be available for emergency officials to view later.
"Prepared Live and the live video streaming now provides us the ability to see what's going on there," Smith said.
'Another tool in the toolbox'
They say that as with traditional 911 calls, video will be archived for a period after the call is made in case it needs to be reexamined later.
Archives will held by Prepared Live for the county to request as needed.
Officials emphasized that the caller maintains control over his or her phone and the video feed, and that it starts only when the caller gives the permission to do so, and it can be stopped at any time.
"It's going to be for life-and-death situations... This is just another tool in the toolbox."Lehigh County 911 Director Don Smith
"It's going to be for life-and-death situations, crime in progress, reported fire incidents, getting a view of the room if somebody's been trapped in a fire and helping them out that way, motor vehicle accidents," Smith said.
"You know, we just had a large flooding event overnight people get trapped in water, we can easily get the see where that vehicle is at.
"This is just another tool in the toolbox."
Smith assured that the new feature never will delay help compared with a normal response.
Statewide, Pennsylvania is working toward a Next Generation 911 response system, improving outdated infrastructure statewide to an internet protocol-based system that can allow multimedia communications and more accurate location services, and has a map displaying progress on upgrades throughout the state.
