Survived. It was a teenager and mom, I think, came home and found them in the closet and was able to get them down before the worst happened. PD was on scene just a minute or so later and would’ve kicked the door in due to exigent circumstances

To be honest, it was public outcry that catalyzed 911 centers into getting this sort of tech.

Even with the benefit of smart phones and Google Maps, too often, callers simply don’t know where they are. Maybe they’re new to an area or they’re just so panicked they can’t think but RapidSOS has lead me to addresses on open line disturbances where I can clearly hear a fight going on but no one is answering questions. One of my partners took a call from someone who had hung themselves, then second guessed it so they managed to dial 911 before dropping the phone but were basically hanging themselves on the phone.

I remember one case a few years ago, which was probably the incident that really pushed it nationwide, a woman crashed into a creek. Car was filling up with water but she was trapped. She had no idea where she was so she couldn’t give the call taker any location information. She ended up drowning before anyone could find her. Turns out, the cell tower routed her call to a completely different agency. They had no idea where that poor woman was because it wasn’t even their city.

Something like RapidSOS probably would’ve given responders a chance to find her and save her.

That being said, I do understand the privacy, or lack thereof, implications

As a 911 dispatcher, we might not even need that. There’s software now that can pinpoint a cell signal to a few feet. My agency uses one called RapidSOS.

It’s not 100% perfect(which is why we still want addresses from the caller) but a good ping can get me your location and, if you stay on the line, will continue to track even in a moving vehicle.