WASHINGTON-While Batman touts the virtues of General Motors Corp.’s OnStar System, the U.S. Department of Transportation has joined with the Communications for Coordinated Assistance and Response to Emergencies (ComCARE) Alliance so if Batman (or anybody else in a telematics-equipped vehicle) is in an accident OnStar will be able to contact the appropriate public safety answering point.
“There is no emergency phone book in America,” said ComCARE’s David Aylward.
In other words, often when a call comes into a telematics call center-prompted either by air-bag deployment or an emergency call button-the call center does not know to which PSAP to direct the call. This can greatly delay the time it takes for emergency personnel to respond to a telematics-alerted emergency.
“All too often, crash victims die or their injuries become more critical because no one who could help knew that the crash occurred or the [emergency medical services] personnel couldn’t locate the crash site,” said Rodney Slater, secretary of transportation, in July.
The National Mayday Readiness Initiative is being underwritten by a grant from GM. The total cost is said to be $150,000.
GM began factory installation of OnStar in 1998. In July, there were more than 200,000 subscribers to the service with the car manufacturer predicting 1 million by the end of the year. ATX Technologies also provides emergency mayday services to many automobile manufactures including Nissan North America Inc. and Mercedes-Benz USA Inc.
The mayday initiative began meeting in May with an initial meeting of 30 stakeholders in an effort to answer a series of questions such as “What can be done to help identify and site antennae in `dead zones’ where mayday services are not available because wireless service is not available?”
In addition to ongoing conference calls of subcommittees tasked with 18 different issues, the plan is to hold five in-person meetings. One such meeting was held last week at the Association of Public-safety Communications Officials annual convention in Boston.
The transportation department is expected to release an Integration Report in October.
In addition to the benefits from better coordination today between PSAPs and mayday call centers, ComCARE has been touting the benefits of Automated Crash Notification which would provide additional information that could prepare emergency responders for the type of action that will be required when they arrive at the scene of an accident.
This effort comes at the same time the Federal Communications Commission is evaluating whether to extend the deadline for wireless carriers to implement enhanced 911 Phase II which includes automatic location information. The FCC is expected to rule on reconsideration petitions on the Phase II rules in the near future.
The FCC is also working on rules for implementing universal 911 legislation passed last year.
