Why does it take so long to get the subject's cell phone lat/long?

The short answer: Turns out that law enforcement must send a fax, yes a fax to the cell phone service provider to get permission for the cell company to "ping" the specific cell phone. Ah ha! It is a privacy issue, glad big brother isn't tracking my Costco runs.

But the person already called 911 isn't that enough? Turns out the answer is yes & no. When a person calls 911, location information is sent to the 911 operator along with the person's name and telephone number. Most phones these days have a GPS chip which is activated when a 911 call is placed, but if you own a GPS you know it takes a few minutes to aquire an accurate location. The 911 operator may get the initial tower triangulation location which may or may not be accurate.

If the caller hangs up or is diconnected on the 911 call, the 911 operator calls back as part of proceedure. If they are able to get an answer, then further location infomation may be obtained. If there is no answer, then the operator may assign the call to an officer who then begins the process of getting location information on the phone. Thus the whole fax process.

There is actually some more detail about which cell companies (network technology) can "ping" a phone, but I'll save that for an upcoming article on Backcountry Rescuer.

More on 911 calling from the backcountry

So you have a good reason to call 911 in the backcountry, your are injured and are not able to self-rescue, you are significantly lost or you forgot your flashlight and are not prepared to spend the night outdoors. You call 911 even though you don't have a carrier signal. You are able to get out on the e911 network and get help started. You give the 911 operator details of where you think you are:

• The trailhead you started from and the route you are on or planned to go on
• If lost, were you left the trail
• If injured, the best location of your injured party and condition
• Details about if you are prepared for a night outdoors

When the 911 operator dispatches the Search and Rescue (SAR) unit the 911 operator will likely share these details with the SAR unit or Sheriff. Many times, a person from the SAR unit or Sheriff will want to call you back to get further details that may help them locate you.

Here is where it gets interesting if you called 911 without a carrier signal. Neither the 911 operator nor the Sheriff/SAR unit will not be able to call you back to get further details. The reason is that your phone does not have a carrier signal and cannot receive incoming calls without a carrier signal. Essentially, this is the same as if one of your friends were trying to call you and you are out of coverage. The only reason you are able to make a call to 911 is that all carriers are required by law to carry a 911 call. You phone is essentially a radio programmed to a specific frequency (your carrier), when you call 911 however, the phone uses a universal frequency that all carriers support (a specific 911 frequency if you will).

Keeping this in mind, you may want to give the 911 operator a call back after an hour to see if they need any further information on your location. This may or may not work as you call may be seen as a new "service ticket" or might be able to be sync'd or merged with the ongoing "service ticket."

Finally, after you have called the 911 operator back, you probably should try to preserve you phone's battery by turning it off. With no bars, your phone will continue to search for a network which requires additional battery power.

Hopefully you will never need to call 911 from the backcountry, but if you do it is helpful to have some ideas about how phone systems work and that you may be able to call 911 without having to hike for a signal.