How To Call For Help    

Calling 911 in an emergency can save a life, but 
only if you know how to use it.  Here's the 
instruction book.    

by: Bill Cereske    

When an emergency arises, either in a disaster or in 
everyday life, our first urge is to call for help, and 
it's a good instinct.  San Francisco provides 
excellent emergency services, and those services 
have multiple backups to get the message to the 
providers of help to you.  What you need to know is 
the multiple paths you have to get your call for help 
to them.    

The 911 system is outstanding and serves the 
purpose of having one number to call if you need 
emergency help, no matter where you are.    

When you dial 911 from your San Francisco home, 
business or pay phone, your call is answered by 
police communications at police headquarters on 
Bryant St.  If you have a police emergency your call 
remains there.  If you have a fire or medical 
emergency, you will be asked to hold while your 
call is transferred to the appropriate dispatcher, 
Turk Street for fire, Potrero for medical.  Expect 
this when calling.    

The system is a sophisticated, intricate network.    

One weakness of the system is that it is one system, 
and can be overloaded with calls, or thrown out of 
kilter by the loss of one segment of the network.  In 
an earthquake, people with fire, police, medical, 
fright, mental health, and other "emergencies", or 
just plain questions,  can jam up the system, or it 
can simply go out of service.    

In such an event, calling your emergency in directly 
can bypass this problem, and that's why the direct 
numbers are on the cover of this newsletter.    

One other thing that most people don't realize until 
an emergency arises is that dialing 911 from a 
cellular phone doesn't connect to the nearest 911 
center.  Instead, depending on where you are, your 
call is answered by the California Highway Patrol in 
Napa or Sacramento.  This can cause serious time 
delays in response to local emergencies.    

If you have a cellular phone, it would be best to 
program in the direct numbers for emergency use.  
Remember, San Francisco direct numbers are only 
good for emergencies within San Francisco.  Other 
communities have their own direct numbers.
    

KNOW THE LIMITATIONS OF CORDLESS PHONES  

BY: Bill Cereske, KE6AZK
  

For the majority of our daily communications, we rely 
heavily on the telephone.  We realize it's value in our 
lives, and use amateur radio as our backup.  

We always rely on it to call for 911 assistance, and the 
more aware of us also have the direct emergency numbers 
handy, in case the 911 center is out of service in a 
disaster.  

We also know that telephones are unreliable in a disaster, 
and we keep backup plans handy: amateur radio, your 
nearest fire alarm street box and location of the nearest 
police and/or fire station.  

What many of us may not have thought of is that we may 
have a weak link in our telephones in an emergency, one 
that we have put there ourselves.  

It's the cordless telephone that poses the problem, and 
the fact that it requires house current in order to work.  
In case the power fails, the cordless phone will not work 
at all.  Many are unaware of this.  

For that reason, you should never make a cordless phone 
your only phone.  Murphy's law says an emergency will hit 
when the power is out.  

There is a work around for the problem, however. The 
transformers for many (but not all) cordless phones 
provide a D.C. output.  You can substitute a burglar alarm or other
D.C. (Rechargeable battery) supply to power your phone, and

it will continue to 
work properly during a power failure.  I myself have made 
this modification, and have happily, and cordlessly, 
chatted away the hours during a power failure. Of course, 
you will want to secure the supply from falling in an 
earthquake.  

Be aware that this modification will probably void the 
warranty on your phone, although if done correctly, will 
cause no harm.  If you are not so technically inclined, 
recruit some one else's services.  

At the very least, be aware that your cordless phone will 
not work without house power, and make alternate plans for 
emergency calling.
  

Originally published in the California Alarm Association 
magazine, "The Mirror"  

How to call for help in a Disaster  

Bill Cereske
  

In the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, many people reported 
that their phones were out of order following the shake, 
but mysteriously repaired themselves later that night.  

No mystery.  Here's how the phone system works, and how 
you can use that knowledge to get your emergency messages 
through.  

All telephones are connected to a computer that will 
connect you to the number you dial.  This computer is 
called a "switch".   The switch is designed to handle 2 to 
5% of all telephones making calls at the same time.  When 
you have finished dialing, the switch releases, and goes 
on to serve the next phone waiting to call.  When the 
switch gets to you and is ready for you to dial, it makes 
a special tone (called a dial tone), that lets you know 
you can dial.  The vast majority of the time there is no 
wait and the dial tone immediately sounds.  

During an emergency or disaster, things happen:  Phones 
fall off the hook,  people pick up the phone to make 
calls, and burglar and fire alarm systems use their 
dialing abilities to report alarms caused by the tremor.  

The switch, unable to service all calls, takes as many as 
it can handle, and lets the others wait.  If no dialing is 
detected within a minute or so, those calls are abandoned 
and the next calls are given a chance.  Dial tone is thus 
delivered on a "first come, first served" basis.  

There is one exception: Special priority numbers assigned 
by the phone company to go to the head of the line, if 
they need to make a call.  These are typically in police 
and fire stations, as well as utilities, hospitals, and 
other priority locations, like central station alarm 
companies.  

The mystery of the self repairing phones becomes 
elementary to solve: When people picked up the phone and 
did not hear the expected tone, they hung up.  Pick up, 
hang up, pick up, hang up - just does not work. You wind up

always at the end of the line! Pick up the 
phone and WAIT.  Unless there's damage to your lines, dial 
tone will sound within a few minutes.  If there is damage 
to the lines, your phone will most likely sound dead.  If 
you hear clicks, hums or pops, no matter how slight, you 
are probably in the waiting queue and will soon be able to 
make your emergency call.  

Originally published in the NERT NEWS.  The editor added a sidebar
with the following tips:    

To make an emergency call, remember that dial tone is delivered on a 
"first come, first served" basis.  Pick up the phone and WAIT!   

Know the location of the nearest fire alarm box.  If a fire breaks out
USE IT! Otherwise, leave it alone!  

Establish an out of state contact for family members to call.