New tool uses smartphone GPS to find 911 callers in N.W.T.

A new tool to help 911 dispatchers has already helped save a life in the Northwest Territories.

RapidSOS is a data platform that helps first responders locate callers by tracking the GPS on their smartphones. The 911 division in the N.W.T. government started using RapidSOS in April.

Ashley Geraghty is the N.W.T. 911 program manager and he said the new tool has been a game-changer for his department.

"We did have a caller that wasn't lost but wasn't able to tell us where the caller was," he said.

"It was a medical life-or-death, and we were still able to find the person and have medics arrive and provide care. So in that case, it literally saved their life."

Until recently, all 911 callers had to tell the dispatcher their precise location in order for first responders to find them easily. Dispatchers still advise all callers to tell them their location, whenever possible.

Harnessing data that's already available

RapidSOS is based in the United States and has partnered with agencies in the U.S., Mexico, Newfoundland and Labrador and the N.W.T.

Michael Martin is co-owner and CEO. He said the tool taps into data that's already there in your pocket.

"What we're able to do is harness all the data on your device to provide that critical location," said Martin. "And if you've enabled it, health information, sensor data from a connected vehicle or connected building platform, that can all be immediately [put] into the hands of 911 first responders."

The company says for it to work, a caller should have location services activated on their phone. If location services are deactivated, there are some devices that will not transmit location information through to emergency services.

Some devices will allow a call to 911 to temporarily activate location services if it's shut off, and will turn location services off again after the information is received by emergency services.

Martin said he's excited for his technology to one day enable people to create a device profile that includes other critical medical information.

"If you have some sort of pre-existing health condition and if you opted into sharing that information, it could be really helpful for 911 communicators," he said.

"Or you can imagine going even further where you have some sort of medical device or wearable device. It's actually streaming real-time information directly into the ambulance so that those paramedics arrive on scene knowing exactly what they need to do."

Right now in the N.W.T., there still isn't a way to locate people calling from landlines. But Geraghty says that's the next step down the road.

"For the next four or five years, RapidSOS is filling that void for us being able to locate folks [on smartphones] that are not able to tell us where they are, and it's really changed life for us," he said.

"It's very, very accurate. It's down to, you know, a foot or two in space."