Durham, N.C. — Life-changing EMS technology has arrived in Durham, aimed at cutting down first responder response time.
The life-saving tool will allow staff at the Durham Emergency Communications Center to ping their exact location.
What used to take minutes, can now take one second with RAPID SOS.
The technology allows emergency workers to find a caller’s location within feet, even if they’re moving.
Every second counts from the moment someone dials 9-1-1.
Tamekia Jones, who lives in Durham, agrees that answering all the questions on the phone takes away precious, life-saving seconds.
“I feel like they ask a lot of questions that hinders them getting to you at a quick time,” she said.
“In the middle of whatever your emergency is – heart attack, assault kidnapping – it’s hard to like pull out your phone dial a number and have this coherent conversation,” said Michael Martin, the CEO and Founder of RAPID SOS.
Martin is the man behind the software that’s been working with first responders for several years now to save lives everyday by cutting down response times.
“The exciting thing about this technology is that for many folks now your phones are going to share your location in that emergency – directly into the hands of 911,” he said.
Whether you’re confused after a car accident, or in a domestic violence situation in a large apartment building and can’t speak, the life-saving technology can play a huge role.
“We’re really just scratching the surface of what’s coming,” said Martin.
He hopes to expand the technology, allowing functions like connecting to your smart watch during a heart attack, or allowing your car to talk directly with 911 after a crash.
“It’s just like a GPS in your phone, to be able to come to me as were talking to send somebody out,” said Jones.
According to Martin, RAPID SOS helped save 6,000 lives last year – and has already showed much success in Wake county.
If you have an iPhone, you can opt in so that your medical ID and any health information that you include will also be available through the RAPID SOS system.
Martin said that the Raleigh-Durham area is among the leading 911 agencies in the country, and this partnership is critical to improving public safety everywhere.
Breaking: FMCSA to take comments on request for automatic reporting of documents from brokers