If you need help in an emergency and call 911 from your cell phone, chances are the smart phone app Uber could find you faster than first responders. That's the warning from the commissioner of the FCC who says 911 service hasn't kept up with smart phone technology.
Now a St. Louis startup, SirenGPS, is working on an app that could allow smart phone users to dial 911 and send specific location information to the operator that the current 911 system doesn’t receive.
“The technology they have is outdated and they can't reach your phone,” says Paul Rauner with SirenGPS.
This month West County Fire and EMS will be the first in the country to test SirenGPS. First, only using its community communication features to send out information for emergencies like weather.
In the future, they may consider using the app to allow people to use the 911 dialing feature.
The FCC is trying to improve the way 911 locates cell phones with new standards that will be phased in over the next five years.
But even those standards only expect 40% of calls to be located within 50 meters by 2017.
