Cell Phone Safety and Emergency Cell Phone Use

A cell phone or other wireless device can be a great tool in an emergency . In addition to providing voice communication with emergency responders (through the 911 emergency number in the United States), even the most basic cell phone offers other features that you may be able to use for assistance or survival.

1. Cell phone backlight. If you don't have a flashlight or light stick handy, the backlight from a cell phone may be used to illuminate a door lock, a sign, a phone book, or a dark hallway. The backlight may also be used to signal rescuers. In February of 2008, for example, rescuers in Tennessee were able to locate people who were trapped under the debris of a church that had been flattened by a tornado more quickly with the help of cell phones. Some of the trapped individuals were able to work their arms out of the debris and hold up open cell phones.¹ And a 17-year-old girl who was lost in a remote area of New Zealand, at night, in August of 2008 was found when the crew of a rescue helicopter used night-vision goggles to spot the backlight on the girl's cell phone.²

2. Text messaging. When an airplane crashed in a densely forested area of British Columbia in August of 2008, a survivor was unable to obtain a voice connection after one call because the signal was too weak. He was able to communicate with rescuers by text messaging, however, and sent them a series of messages telling them whether a rescue aircraft was getting closer to or farther from the crash site.³

3. Voice communication. Of course, a voice connection can be extremely valuable in an emergency, either to contact an emergency number such as 911 or to call friends or others who may be able to help you. It won't work everywhere, but it's worth a try. In November of 2007, 27 miners were trapped half a mile underground after a landslide blocked the entrance to an Australian gold mine. A successful rescue operation got underway quickly when one of the miners used his personal cell phone to call an emergency number.⁴

Cell phone service providers in the United States are required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to use either network-based or Global Positioning System (GPS) devices in their phones to assist 911 responders in determining a cell phone's location in an emergency. If a network-based system is used, a cell phone located within the service provider's coverage area can triangulate the direction of signals or "pings" received by the phone from ground-based cell towers. GPS systems use satellites instead of ground-based equipment to locate a phone.

Some buildings in urban areas have dead zones, and you may have to move away from a building to make a cell phone call. If you have difficulty getting cell phone reception outdoors, service providers recommend hiking to the highest ground in the area and holding the cell phone away from your body or over your head to reduce the number of possible obstructions between you and the nearest cell tower. If you are unable to get a connection after 10 minutes, you may want to turn the phone off to conserve battery power until your next call attempt. If your cell phone has a weak signal, it has to strain to reach the closest cell tower and this drains the battery more quickly.⁵

Sources:

¹Larry Jarnagin, Tornado Life-Saving Tips (Cell Phone Light?), www.firefighternation.com/forum

²Cellphone Light Guides Rescue Helicopter, NewstalkZB, http://homew.nzcity.co.nz/news/article

³Steve Mertl, The Canadian Press, Plane-Crash Survivor Spent Hours Texting Rescuers, http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/08/05

⁴Cell Phone Call Leads to Quick Rescue for Trapped Miners, CNN.com/asia, www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD

⁵Marguerite Reardon, CNET News, Turning Cell Phones Into Lifelines, http://news.cnet.com