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Ventura dispatchers explain how 911 and text-to-911 work and urge callers to ‘know your location’
Summary
Two San Buenaventura (Ventura) police dispatchers describe how calls are triaged, why dispatchers confirm location first, how location accuracy varies, and why text-to-911 should be reserved for situations when callers cannot speak.
Malia, a Ventura police public safety dispatcher and floor supervisor, and Aaron, a Ventura police public safety dispatcher, told listeners during a Ventura Voices podcast that the most important thing a caller can do in an emergency is give a clear location and communicate what they can observe.
"We can't help you if we don't know where you are," Malia said, explaining that confirming latitude and longitude is the first question dispatchers ask because jurisdictions and the right responding agency can change based on location.
The dispatchers outlined how calls are triaged: location first, then the nature of the emergency and whether anyone is injured. Aaron said the center uses automated location tools (referred to on the episode as "Annie and Ali") that can, depending on phone type and signal, produce accuracy ranging from roughly 5 meters to a broad radius of about 1,700 meters. That…
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