Dead copper's phone could have saved him
No E911 style service in UK
DISTRESSED UK POLICE chief, Michael Todd, might potentially have been saved if British location based services were better, it has emerged. Mistakes were made by rescuers trying to find him near to the top of Mount Snowdon in Wales.
Since Todd's body was recovered from the mountain, reports have claimed that rescuers spent Monday night trying to locate him in the wrong place because of mistakes they made in their attempts to locate the signal from his Crackberry mobile phone.
The UK has yet to fully emulate the US with its E911 initiative and force mobile networks to install location awareness technology that can help to pinpoint emergency calls made from mobile phones.
Ironically, it was text messages being sent from Mr Todd's Crackberry which sparked the search for him in the first place. It's a tribute to the cellular networks that he was able to send such texts even though he was about 100 feet from the summit.
Mobile phone records revealed that he had sent ' harrowing' text messages to his wife, children and other family members, but it was a text sent to a female police colleague which actually triggered the search. µ
Comments
Why?
Dude, Europe dictated 112 in all states as being the emergency number.Would be strange that only the UK doesn't have it.
Or, you are simply unaware it's 112 all over Europe.
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RE: Why?
Bas Heijermans,112 is an emergency number in the UK as well as our traditional 999.
Quiet why you are commenting on this in relation to the article I guess I'll never know.
I'm thinking you miss read it.
Dude!
@ BasThe UK uses 112 and 999 as emergency numbers, so if anyone from europe needs it, it still works.
Hmmmm-
I wonder if the text messages mentioned the black helicopters following him during his walk...Emergency Number
112 is a valid emergency number in the UK and has been for some years in addition to 999.Since 1988
112 system was first proposed in 1988 & hoped for implementation by 1992, which many major cities did. It was another decade before all must fall in fear of quick to dial: 112.There are still some holdouts.Heres web site
:http://www.112.be/
Unlike long rot ary 9 as first number, Europeans E911 is actually several seconds faster with 11 being operator code & 2 is first number with actual letters on it. So much for anominality.It works same, you complain about someone nearby & small car with several henchmen show up, grab 'suspect" & disappear, just like Yanks do.
It is rumoured that USA wanted 9999999999999999 for universal number of distress, finding out it was more nines than telcoms keep track of, busted that. Last suspect on 112 system was captured just as began to think criminal thoughts.
Now EU has national Day, 11th of February or 11/2 day, Eventually Whole of Germany is expected to collaspe into flaming airfoils that day, yet so far, No Luck. It is cosponsored by MICROSOFT as well as many wireless carriers.
Signed:TS von Drashek
"suprising" reception
It's not surprising he could send texts from near the TOP of a mountain - funnily enough, the Line Of Sight is brilliant. It's the valleys that cause problems.AT adds: ISTR there's a cell at the top of Snowdon.
Simply harrowing time & place for a Crackberry summit
Mount Snowdon, elevation 3560 feet, highest mountain in Wales - a hostel environment to be sure! Absolutely grisly!Two hours from Manchester; an extraordinary rendition: what he could have been on about there? A copper's copper exposed, reeking of gin, covered in snow, gale force winds of 80mph, paradoxial undressing! One must really read about it here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/12/ntodd512.xml
Condole our sympathies to Scotland Yard.