CELL PHONE TRACKING HELPS HUNTER FIND HIS WAY
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 -- 11:41 AM
For at least the 3rd time, technology that allows the Clark County Sheriff's Department to locate the origin of 9-1-1 calls made on cellphones has helped find a person.Chief Deputy Jim Backus said the department received a call at around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. A young man was hunting on Clark County forestland in the Town of Seif, northwest of Neillsville. He became separated from his group could not find his way out of the woods.
That's when he called 9-1-1 on his cell phone.
"Through a series of calls, our dispatcher was able to map where he was at," Backus says. "When he called back again, it would indicate where on the map he was from last time. They were basically able to walk him out."
It took about a half hour before the man found his way back to the road.
The sheriff's department has had the ability to track emergency cell phone calls since October of last year. There are different methods of finding cell phones. Some actually have chips that give GPS coordinates.
Clark County received grants to cover 50% of the upgrades and it saves the money associated with sending out search teams, Backus notes.
"It could be numerous deputies to a fire department, or numerous fire departments, depending on where they're at. Especially out in the county forest area, like this."
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