Poor 9-1-1 Map Data Puts Lives at Risk Every Day, says Digital Data Technologies; Emergency Responders Can't Help Residents if They Can't Locate Them

    COLUMBUS, OH, September 14, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Most 9-1-1 map data is flawed across the country. It's inaccurate. It's outdated - missing new streets, closed roads and sometimes whole new developments. Worst of all, the vast majority of 9-1-1 map data has never been field verified to ensure accuracy and, in turn, facilitate rapid emergency response.

"There are a lot of mapping systems out there that will guess what an address is instead of field verifying it," says Kim Hambel, Communications Supervisor for the Muskingum County, Ohio, Sheriff's Office, whose county is one of 77 in Ohio that now use field-verified 9-1-1 map data. "When a life is on the line, I don't want to guess. I want an accurate location of where that address is at."

Unreliable 9-1-1 map data is slowing emergency response times and, in some cases, preventing citizens from getting the life-saving help they may need. Dispatchers and first responders often know their maps are bad, but they don't speak of it because they feel powerless to change it. They work with what they've got, as frustrating as it may be at times.

In Minneapolis-St. Paul and the State of Texas, for example, an eye-popping 85 percent of map data was found to have some degree of error, according to a 2011 report from the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council. In addition, an analysis of 50 recent data validation reports from various areas across the country exposed errors or omissions in nearly all 9-1-1 datasets, with the norm being a discrepancy rate of more than 70 percent. This means citizens in these areas may not be located quickly - or perhaps at all -when they are in need of emergency services.

It doesn't have to be that way. More than three-quarters of Ohio's 88 counties have found a solution to their 9-1-1 mapping woes. It's called a Location Based Response System, or LBRS, and it is saving lives - as well as taxpayer dollars - on a regular basis.

Ohio's LBRS has been lauded by the by the U.S. Department of Transportation as a "best practice" in its 2011 Transportation for the Nation strategic plan. It has put Ohio in a position to be well ahead of the pack in complying with Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) efforts. It is bringing together all levels of government to build one set of highly accurate, reliable, consistently updated map data that everyone - from the state department of transportation and the county tax assessor to the local school districts and 9-1-1 operators - can easily use and afford. It's a solution that works.

Details about Ohio's Location Based Response System can be found in the attached white paper, recently released by the State of Ohio. Nearly a dozen experts contributed to this paper and each can attest to the power and importance of having field-verified, up-to-date 9-1-1 map data.

"Good mapping can make the difference between life and death," said Dave Blackstone, GIS Manager for the Ohio Department of Transportation.

"There's no need for lives to ever be in jeopardy because of unreliable 9-1-1 map data," echoed Ron Cramer, president of Digital Data Technologies Inc. DDTI is the Ohio company that pioneered the technology behind the field verification and data maintenance process that makes Ohio's LBRS so pinpoint accurate. "DDTI's 9-1-1 map data is field verified to spot inaccuracies before lives are lost."

ABOUT US
Digital Data Technologies Inc. (DDTI) is the world leader in creating field-verified GIS addressing data that is accurate to within one meter. DDTI is based in Columbus, Ohio, and was the provider of choice for the pilot phase of Ohio's statewide initiative to build a unified set of highly accurate map data able to meet the vastly different needs of state, county and municipal governments. DDTI's suite of AccuGlobe products includes: 9-1-1 Map Data for enhanced public safety, 9-1-1 Dispatch for locating emergency calls, Mobile Data Computer Software for optimized routing to emergency locations, Automatic Vehicle Location Software for tracking the whereabouts of emergency units, and GIS Data Maintenance for streamlined updating, merging and sharing of new map and address data.

For more information about DDTI and its products, visit www.ddti.net or contact Ron Cramer, president of DDTI, toll-free at 888.800.4003 or at [email protected].

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