By Margie Kacoha, Palm Beach Daily News
Original publication date: March 20, 2011

Palm Beach, Fla. — Councilman Robert Wildrick learned through experience that a cell phone call placed in Palm Beach to 911 may get bounced around before ringing in at the town’s telecommunications center at the police station.

Wildrick used his cell phone when he found himself face-to-face with an emergency situation last season at the docks of the North End’s Sailfish Club.

He was tending to his boat when he noticed that a crew member of a yacht docked nearby had slipped and was precariously suspended between the boat and the dock, about 6-10 feet above the water.

“He was hanging there with a dislocated shoulder,” Wildrick said.

Wildrick said he grabbed a life preserver, ran over to the man and called 911 to summon paramedics.

He reported that he was with “a man hanging in agony.”

But the call went elsewhere — Wildrick thinks to a county dispatcher who didn’t know where the Sailfish Club was, apparently confusing it with the Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach Shores. He then got transferred to West Palm Beach.

“I hung up,” Wildrick said. “I called the police department directly to send police and fire.”

He said they arrived within minutes. Two days later, Wildrick reported, the crew member was back on the job.

Wildrick spoke to police about his misdirected call and said he understands cell phone calls can sometimes go to the nearest tower, which may not be in Palm Beach.

“It’s a strictly a technical issue,” he said.

Palm Beach police Major Rick Howe cited circumstances that can cause Palm Beachers’ cell phone calls to bounce to a dispatch center outside of town.

One is the proximity of a cell tower in relation to the caller, and the other is the availability of the town’s cell phone lines.

Howe cited Florida’s emergency communications plan, which states a call signal may be transmitted from a more distant tower location when wireless towers become busy.

“This may cause the call to be sent to any agency including West Palm Beach, [Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office] or Riviera Beach,” he said.

The town has two wireless 911 lines and two 911 land lines, according to Howe.

“Should we receive more than two wireless 911 calls at the same time, or if both are in use, the 911 wireless calls will automatically transfer to West Palm Beach Police, who will then transfer to our 911 land lines,” Howe explained. “This is why it is extremely important for the caller to immediately give their exact location so the telecommunicator is able to route the call properly,” Howe said.”This isn’t unique to the Town of Palm Beach and doesn’t cause a large delay — seconds — because the call will immediately be forwarded to the town by West Palm Beach, PBSO [or] Riviera Beach,” he explained.

In an Emergency
When placing a 911 call, tell the calltaker what assistance, such as police and/or fire-rescue, is needed. Also, give the call taker the exact location of the emergency. The Palm Beach telecommunications unit also can be reached by calling 838-5454. 

Copyright © 2011 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy