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Posted by Bill Horne on November 14, 2007, 7:14 pm
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hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> At one time all cities had emergency fire boxes on major
> streetcorners. Someone in need of help would pull a lever in the box,
> which would send a coded signal to the dispatcher and fire station
> indicating the location. (Pulling the lever activated a clockwork in
> the box which propelled a tape with punchings to give it a code.)
>
> Many cities have removed those boxes because they were expensive to
> maintain and obsolete in a day with universal home telephone service
> and cell phones. However, some cities have found them to be still
> useful and keep them in service. They have the advtg of being very
> reliable which cell phones are not, the person does not need to speak
> English, and give the exact location which might not be known.
>
>
> An article in the NYT describes this. See:
The link provided seems to have aged off: here's a current one. You may
have to register with the NY Times, but it's free.
http://tinyurl.com/375sa4
***** Moderator's Note *****
Many cities have removed fire alarm boxes for the reasons given in the
article, but they face hidden costs: my brother is a firefighter, and he
told me that -
1. Only ten percent of local subscribers can make a 911 call at any one
time, which means any disaster will quickly overload the local network,
and prevent reporting of other events which aren't part of the disaster.
2. Many low-income residences will abandon telephone service during
recessions, which deprives then of the ability to call 911 during an
emergency. Although in some areas the phone company leaves dial tone
active even if the service is cut off, that doesn't apply if there's a
shortage of facilities. "Lifeline" service, which is offered in some
states, must be applied for - and too many low-income households have
undocumented workers who are afraid to deal with the process for fear of
"la Migra". The result? Landlords in low-income neighborhoods face
higher insurance rates, because the underwriters keep track of telephone
line use.
3. Two-way radios have not obviated the need for the telephone
access connections, or even the Morse Code keys and sounders
(yes, they're still in there), in the boxes -
A. Major fires can place unusual demand on radio links, which
prevents them from being available for the "Health and Welfare"
traffic that used to be handled via phone or Morse.
B. Field commanders without access to the telephone circuit
(or the Morse circuit) have to report injuries or deaths
over-the-air, and TV news crews often beat the Fire
Department's chaplain to the home of a fallen firefighter,
eager to stick a camera into the face of a newly-made widow.
C. Cell phones are useless on a fireground, both because they're
an unwanted expense for cash-strapped municipal governments,
and because TV reporters "nail up" cell connections at every
fire, just so they can coordinate queues and timing with
their control rooms. That means there are no cell connections
available, even if firefighters choose to use their own
cell phones.
My brother, needless to say, has strong opinions on this subject, but
he is also quick to point out that the maintenance costs for Gamewell
and other brands of McCulloch-loop systems can overshadow the increased
safety and usability benefits the call boxes offer. He emphasized,
however, that a decision to remove call boxes needs to be publicly
debated so that all the risks and rewards are known in advance.
Bill
--
Bill Horne
Temporary Moderator
Telecom Digest
(When sending a post to the digest, please put "[Telecom]"
{without the quotes but _with_ the brackets} in your subject
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(Remove QRM from my address for direct replies.)
| ![[Telecom] Emergency call boxes still in use article](/images/header.jpg)
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