New technology helps 911 dispatchers to quickly locate people in emergencies

Stamford officials gave News 12 Connecticut a look at new technology on Friday that helps get first responders to emergencies even faster.

News 12 Staff

Aug 21, 2020, 11:58 PM

Updated 1,516 days ago

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Stamford officials gave News 12 Connecticut a look at new technology on Friday that helps get first responders to emergencies even faster.
The technology was recently used to save a kayaker in Cove Island Beach.
The call from the lost kayaker came in to 911 dispatchers just hours after Carbyne was installed, and officials said it's been used several times over the last month.
The new technology allows 911 dispatchers like AJ Minichino to text a link to a person's cellphone. Once the person in distress opens that link, it allows them to video chat with the dispatcher.
The tool also shows the dispatcher where the person who called is or what type of emergency they are witnessing, and it also gives their cellphones' exact location.
"When they call 911, we can kind of see the cellphone tower where they ping, but it's a very big area of where they could be. So this Google Maps it to a spot on the map to an exact location and in real time, every minute," Minichino said.
Minichino was first to use the technology to save the kayaker whose boat was filling with water and couldn't tell dispatchers where she was. He added that they have used it in several other situations since then.