MORGANTOWN — They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In the age of social media, it seems nearly every event, incident, or altercation is being captured by a bystander cell phone videographer. A new program being used in Monongalia County will now allow 9-1-1 callers to use those handheld devices to show emergency responders real-time information, a benefit far more valuable than words.
The Monongalia County Emergency Management Agency (MECCA) is the first 9-1-1 center in West Virginia to use a program called 911eye. The program will allow public safety telecommunicators at MECCA to send a link to a caller’s cell phone to live stream the call, allowing emergency personnel to see what is happening at the scene before they even arrive.
Assistant 911 Director Brad Wilson said the program will be beneficial to emergency personnel heading to a call.
“It’s a big help to our emergency responders,” he said. “They are going to be able to, on certain calls, see the scene before they get there so they know what they are getting into.”
The system seems fairly straight-forward. If a telecommunicator determines a live stream would be beneficial to responders, they simply send a text or an email to the smartphone of the caller. By clicking on the link, a secure, one time use live video stream is enabled.
The video stream allows emergency responders to see the incident, assess how serious it is, and decide what and how many resources to deploy, if any. “It helps them determine if they’ve got enough resources and the right resources responding, along with us too,” Wilson said.
The program will also be able to live stream audio and allow callers to upload still photos and receive texts from MECCA. Additionally, the caller’s location, via GPS coordinates, are provided. The 911eye program will work with the RapidSOS program MECCA currently uses for precise GPS locations of callers.
Wilson said the program does not require callers to download an app. “For us it’s all internet based. It runs through any mobile device. We’ll send them a link, they have to accept it and they have the option not to accept it too.”
For those who choose to allow MECCA to live stream, they will only gain access to the videos or photographs during the call. Once the call is disconnected, neither the caller or MECCA will be able to access that link again. If you need to call 9-1-1 again after disconnecting, a new link will be sent to access the program again.
If you choose to not accept the link, Wilson said there won’t be any negative consequences. “I mean, if not we treat it like a regular 9-1-1 call,” he said.
