Copyright 2019 by KOAMNewsNow KOAM. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
JOPLIN, Mo. – The City of Joplin’s emergency dispatch center has rolled out some new technology to help first responders and the public.
The City of Joplin has a population of around 50,000, but during the day, that number swells to nearly 250,000, with 200,000 people potentially unfamiliar with the city streets and neighborhoods. And when they have an emergency, and dispatchers ask where they are, they may not know, and that could cause critical delays in getting emergency personnel to them. But now, dispatchers can find you, even if you can’t tell them where you are, thanks to a new system. Cheryl Konarski, Joplin Communications Director says “It gives us a much better starting point than what they maybe able to give us, you know, ‘I’m by Mcdonald’s’, well, how many do we have in our city? Or even Walmarts, you know? It just gives us a much better idea of where to locate them.”
The system is called “RapidSOS” and it’s free to the city. Konarski says “It can help us to triangulate their location, it actually tracks them real time as the caller’s moving, so if their location changes we can also see where they are.”
In addition to that, it links with Google Street View, so the caller and dispatcher can identify where they’re at. And for emergency responders, like the Joplin Police Department, this new technology can help speed up response times. Captain Nick Jimenez with the Joplin Police Department says “Anytime we get a tool that helps us do our job better, we’re excited to have it, and that’s exactly what this RapidSOS system is going to do, it’s going to help those officers out there serving your community respond faster.”
And with 72,000 calls for service, Captain Jimenez says rapid response is key to potentially saving lives.
Officials say they can only use the system to track a number if that number has called 911. Both the Jasper and Newton County dispatch centers have the system as well.
___
Get the latest local and national headlines straight to your email for free: Sign up here.
