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FEMA To Use Cell Phone Signals To Find Survivors

Posted by timothy on from the safety-tech dept.

twistah writes: "CNN had an interview with a representative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the agency helping with the New York WTC rescue effort, who said that Lucent has given them technology to trace the signal of cell phones. The idea is that people will give them phone numbers of cell phones and pagers of people missing due to the WTC collapse, which FEMA will call and attempt to trace the signal to find the missing people. FEMA has now put this information on their web site, and are dubbing it the 'Wireless Emergency Response Team.'"

13 of 286 comments (clear)

  1. Wont the phone batterys be dead by now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was thinking about this the other day, but if people were frantically calling these cellphones then the battery would almost certainly be dead by now, and even if this were not the case my phone will only last about 4 days without getting charged as it would ramp up the power output to try and get a signal.

    Hopefully this will be a good launching point for this technology in the future

  2. GPS equipment in phones would be useful here by smoondog · · Score: 3, Interesting

    For safety reasons cell phones are going to have GPS receivers in them soon to tell 911 operators where you are when calling on your cell phone. This would be totally useful here, because there are going to be a lot more cell phones in that pile of rubble than living people. While I agree with the privacy concerns (including my own) this would have been totally helpful here. (Especially since most cellphones don't have more than 3-5 days of battery life. They should all be running down by now).

    -Sean

    1. Re:GPS equipment in phones would be useful here by NMerriam · · Score: 3, Interesting

      No, GPS doesn't work without line-of-sight to the satellites (and you have to have 3-4 satellites at a minimum, which is tricky even outdoors in a place like Manhattan).

      But having the cell triangulation that is (i think) being mandated for general emergency services use would be useful in this situation. it proovides effectively the same results but only works in a cellular-enabled area...

      --
      Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
    2. Re:GPS equipment in phones would be useful here by crazy_swimmer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Dude, I wish it weren't so for the sake of those trapped, but the GPS signal really is very weak, and could never make it through that pile of rubble. I just went backpacking on Labor Day weekend, and my friend had a GPS locator device. Even in a remote area north of Yosemite National Park in California (an area with nothing man-made to provide interference, and roughly 9000 feet higher elevation than the WTC), we still had a hard time getting a signal. Yes, the batteries were in and fully charged. The fact of the matter is, the sparse trees and even our own bodies were blocking the signal in some cases.

  3. Cellphone batteries running out? by zulux · · Score: 3, Interesting

    After so many hours, woulden't most cell phone batteries have run out by now. I hope I'm wrong.

    --

    Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.

  4. Re:Are they alive? by spudnic · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I heard reports that there where several subteranian areas that have pockets that are open. This was followed up by saying that there where a lot of snack shops and the such that would have been stocked with food and drinks.

    If someone was lucky enough to find themselves in this situation they could survive for quite awhile.

    --
    load "linux",8,1
  5. Maybe another simple way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    A working cellphone transmits regularly; how about
    a field meter with a directional antenna?

  6. Details? by humblecoder · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Does anybody have any details about exactly what this "technology" is? Does it require the cell phone to be on and powered, or can it find cell phones without a charged battery?

    I also heard on CNN that they can use this "technology" with Palm Pilots as well, but they were very sketchy on the details.

    --

    ------

    www.moneybythenumbers.com

  7. Call Center by ghasty · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've actually been at the Wireless Emergency Response call center most of the morning and am scheduled to go back 3am Monday. Yes, it may not be a good chance...but it's still a chance. You can still hear the horror in people's voices. Being in Georgia we've been so removed from the victums and family...being at the call center really brings it home...

  8. Holy 'Titanic' reprecussions by hypreal · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I do hate to say this, but a travisty of this magnitute will have some positive outcomes. Weither it be search and resuce tech and procedure, building arcitecture, or just plain people looking over their shoulder, this was necessacary for humanity to experience even though it blows. Look at the Titanic. Because of that, regulations were created to make sea travel safe.

    --
    = They say "guns don't kill people, people kill people", but I think the gun helps. -Eddie Izzard =
  9. Re:People might still be alive. by notNeilCasey · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was just in that basement area this past Sunday. It is the connection between the Church St. Subway Station and the PATH train to NJ and is better described as a nice train station rather than as a basement. There are several restaurants, a Borders Book Store, and various other things. It's like a small stretch of a shopping mall. I heard on the news that they are considering using the PATH tunnels to try to get people. In other news, though, my cell phone has never had any service down there.

  10. body-sniffing dogs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Not a bad idea, although as others have said, a lot of batteries are dead by now.

    I heard on the news that some body-sniffing dogs are now being employed with success. At this point, this may be a better lower tech solution.

    Something of a morbid subject, still...

  11. US Embassy in Ottawa (Canda) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I have placed images of outside the US Embassy in Ottawa, Ontario in Canada. Canadians have been placing various momentos, and memorial offerings along the outer fence. Feel free to repost this URL wherever appropriate...

    http://207.198.90.123/Memorial/index.html

    -kilk