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One of the most common problems in the response to telephone calls for emergency services (ambulance, police, fire, etc.) is to insure that the responding agency has the appropriate location information and, in the case of individuals with a history of heart disease or other possibly life threatening affliction, pertinent information on their particular medical situation. Typically a 911 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) or other response agency must depend upon the information solicited from the caller. In some modern emergency response systems, such as Enhanced 911 (E91 1), Automatic Location Information (ALT) is available from the operating telephone company. Typically, however, E9 1 1 may be cost effective only for relatively large jurisdictions. This is particularly true for those systems in which the information is obtained from the telephone company central data base by means of (redundant) dedicated, high speed data lines. In a previous paper [1], the authors investigated a device, located at the subscriber's residence, which would transmit, via a modem, location and other information to the PSAP upon activation by a request-to-send (RTS). Although the device was technically successful, it had a high projected cost. In the present paper an alternate system approach is taken in which a device located at the subscriber's residence transmits only a seven digit "touch tone" code (typically the subscriber's telephone number) to a personal computer in the PSAP. The computer performs a "reverse directory" data- base lookup for address and/or other pertinent information (eg. emergency medical information) and displays the information which enables the dispatcher to send the appropriate response. The system will also be useful in the case of telephone offices which automatically provide Automatic Number Identification (ANI) but not ALl. This paper describes the system and its device and software components, system costs and discusses several applications in the area of emergency response to telephone requests for service, including a low cost automated medical service request system which can be activated by a simple handheld device.
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