Child’s Death Sparks 911 Warning To Internet Phone Users

It was, in many ways, a tragedy looking for a place to happen. And it did on Tuesday night to a former Mississauga family who had relocated to Calgary. When 18-month-old Elijah Luck (left) became critically ill at the family’s new home out west, his folks did what any parents would – they picked up the phone and dialed 911.

But the Luck family didn’t have any on their side. They’d opted to use the Internet as their phone provider, a process known as VoiP, or Voice over Internet Protocol. It’s a growing industry that saves money on long distance calls by placing them through the infrastructure of the worldwide web.

But it had a deadly consequence the distraught mom and dad hadn’t considered. Because the calls aren’t routed through a regular phone system, the 911 call failed to show dispatchers their proper address. Instead, it displayed their last known home: their old property hundreds of kilometres away in Ontario, which is where crews showed up.

And so, as the family waited in agony, their youngster, born premature and sickly since birth, experienced seizures and died.

The child’s aunt claims she phoned once and got nothing but ringing for several minutes. When she finally called back, she reached an operator who told her help was on the way. 

“… they said ‘did you call 911?’ I  said yes. We’re in an emergency. Our little baby is passing,” Elijah’s aunt Sylvia Luck tearfully recalled.

Some 20 minutes later, she rushed to a neighbour, pleading for them to call 911 again. By the time paramedics finally arrived, little Elijah was gone.

To complicate matters, the phone company involved, Comwave, admits it received an emergency call, but it wasn’t completed and for some reason, no one gave them the new address.

“So what they ended up doing was going to plan B — which is the address that’s on file for the VoIP caller,” company spokeswoman Alison George reveals. “And in this case it was an address in a completely different city.”

The firm calls it an unfortunate series of tragic coincidences that failed all at once and insists its system works. But it points out an ongoing concern with Internet telephony that you may need to think about before you sign up for the service.

The problem: unlike regular landline numbers, Internet phone technology is portable, leaving no physical address to display when 911 is dialed. And in a panic, a caller may forget to provide the needed information. 

“Because your phone service is not linked to a geographic address, it really is critically important when speaking to 911 that your address is fully delivered and fully understood and you’re transferred to the EMS service provider in your area,” George points out.

The Canadian Radio, Television and Telecommunications Commission, which regulates phone service, ordered a solution to this problem in 2005 ( see the original decision here.) But the system is still prone to problems and as more people gravitate to the cheaper technology, the dilemma grows.

Yuval Barzakay, Comwave’s president, said considering the circumstances of this tragedy, there’s no one person or service to place the blame on. 

“I can’t comment on the responsibility, because Comwave is responsible to provide 911 based on the guidelines that were outlined to us by the C.R.T.C., and … we’ve provided that,” he said. “We sent out E.M.S. and tragically to the wrong location. I think this is not a blame game for anyone.”

But it’s a growing concern for police, who worry that others will fall victim to the same tragic snafu.

“The traditional 9-1-1 system is based on the use of landlines and ensures that an emergency telephone call goes to the correct 911 Centre,” points out the OPP. “At the same time, the system automatically provides address and telephone number information to ensure help can find the caller even if the person is unable to verbalize the location or nature of the emergency. At this point, this is not guaranteed with … new Internet-based technology.”

And even registering your phone and your location is no guarantee it will always work when you need it.

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Here’s what the OPP advises those on a VoIP phone should remember during an emergency.

Give your location
Include address and town or city, to enable the call taker to either handle the information or transfer you to the correct 911 centre.

Give your telephone number
And don’t forget your area code.

Advise the nature of your emergency
It’s important call takers know what they’re dealing with, from an intruder to a medical problem.
 
Listen to the call taker’s instructions
Depending on the location and type of incident, you may be transferred. Stay on the line until advised otherwise by the call taker.

Find out how your system works
Consumers should contact their providers to familiarize themselves with the options and restrictions of their system and how it works with 911.

Source: OPP

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Disadvantages of VoiP With 911

• VoIP has two types of telephone services: Nomadic (no fixed address) and Non-nomadic (having a fixed address linked to the telephone and the internet connection).
• Nomadic telephones and some fixed telephones (depending on the provider) calling 911 must connect first to a third party call centre and that call centre must then re-direct it to the appropriate 911 centre.
• The VoIP service provider’s call centre may be sending your emergency call to a non-emergency telephone number, which will result in delays and could have serious consequences.
• If the caller is unable to speak or the call is disconnected, the call centre may not be able to determine the address of the emergency.
• If your service provides enhanced 9-1-1, delivering location information to the 911 centre, it will be the information that you registered with your VoIP service provider. The routing to the appropriate 911 centre is also based on the information you provided as part of your registration process. Please ensure it is correct and update it when your locations change.
• When using some VoIP services automatic location information is not provided to the 911 centre.
• 911 Service is not available if your Internet connection is down.
• 911 Service is not available if there is a power failure.

Source: Peel Regional Police