Sarasota, Florida -- If you have an emergency and need to call 911, you'll probably use your cell phone.
If you don't know the address of where you are calling from, chances are authorities won't be able to find you.
10 Investigates has found there's new technology to ensure when you call 911 help will be there, but the wireless and the federal government are dragging their feet to protect you.
“911 what is your emergency?” tThat is the first thing a 911 operator will ask if you are making a call. They will often ask where you are calling from because 911 operators cannot locate most cell phone calls.
That is a major problem because 76 percent of emergency calls are from cell phones. It’s also a baffling thought given today's GPS technology.
Earlier this year we told you about a 911 call where a Georgia woman told the emergency operator she had driven her car into a lake, but because the call was placed from a cell phone the operator couldn’t track the location.
This Georgia woman drown while on the phone with 911.
It's a pattern repeated throughout the country with tragic results.
In 2008, Denise Amber Lee called 911 in Sarasota from a cell phone in the back seat of a car driven by a man who had kidnapped her.
The 911 operator asked where she was calling from. In a chilling 911 call, Lee can be heard screaming and crying, “I don’t know!”
Lee managed to get the kidnappers phone and dial 911 from the back of the car, but the operator never located her. Police discovered her body two days later.
Fred White, with a Laaser911.com, has developed a fix to the problem. He says, “Unfortunately, a lot of people don't know this is a problem.”
White’s software allows 911 centers to instantly locate you on a cell phone call.
10Investigates set up a test to see how well it works. We went to Sarasota near the spot where Lee was when she made the call.
When White made a call to 911 on a regular cell phone he asked the operator, “Can you tell me the address that popped up on your screen?”
The 911 operator replied, “It is coming up as T-Mobile wireless at 5049 Trout Circle SW in North Port.”
That is the address of the cell tower 3 and a half miles away.
10News asked White what good that address would have done for emergency responders if someone was in trouble.
White explained, “Nothing at all and the 911 operators are aware that this is not where you are. That's why they have to ask you where are you.”
We tried again using White's software.
This time when White asked the 911 operator for his location the response was ”It's 13580 Tamiami Trail, North Port."
That was the same location from where we placed the first call, but this time 911 found the exact address.
CTIA -- the organization that represents the 4 major wireless companies, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T Mobile -- says today's wireless technology does allow the 911 call centers to find the caller's location and it transmits it 90 percent of the time. However, the FCC gave us tests from 9 states and the District of Columbia. The tests show the wireless carries fall far short from that 90 percent figure.
White told 10News, "The hang up is bureaucracy. We are talking large phone companies, the federal government, and local government."
The FCC has mandated that next year 40 percent of the wireless calls to 911 are supposed to include exact the location data and then in another 5 years that figure jumps to 80 percent. Experts say the industry is not even close to making it happen.
