Australian emergency services need text messaging tools

As early as 2002, the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) was looking at the possibility of SMS-based emergency services and then promptly discarded the idea. Given the spate of bushfires occurring right now across Australia, the flooding and other natural disasters that have plagued the country in the last month, it might be a good idea to revisit the idea of using bulk text messaging for internal communication between emergency services and between these services and local residents.

The idea was originally proposed by hearing impaired community groups but was discarded as the ACA said that it could not rely on SMS text messaging in time-critical, life threatening situations. This is based on the fact that there were too many variables affecting the delivery time of text messages such as no feedback on the success or failure of delivery and the potential for delayed delivery. Many of these problems have been resolved in the last six years with reliable SMS gateway operators and more sophisticated mobile phone technology.

The Victorian Bushfire Information Line does offer hearing impaired people the option to contact them via a text-based emergency relay service but this is often dependent on the user having a teletext machine and it is not available to the general public. The Tasmania Fire Service has a mobile service that allows the public to get the most up-to-date bushfire information on their phones. Unfortunately the phone needs to be WAP-enabled, be able to browse the web and have Google Maps for Mobile installed in order to use the service. Bulk text messaging on the other hand requires no additional features and works on every mobile phone on the planet.

The advantages of bulk text messaging are multi-fold. Purely for internal communications coordinating the fire department, medical agencies and other emergency services would logistically be far easier. Hospitals would have prior warning of what to expect, the traffic department could easily be notified of potential problems and what assistance they could provide to emergency services. Local residents through a bulk text message sending could be warned of possible fires in the vicinity, issued with evacuation instructions and emergency plans. Country Fire Authority chief fire officer, Russell Rees, says, “The expectation that they (residents) will get a warning from the fire service or indeed a fire truck at their front gate is something that we can’t guarantee.” It is something that could be guaranteed if government worked together with SMS gateway suppliers and network operators to send emergency text messages to mobile phone users.

Pre-programmed SMS emergency numbers could be used by citizens who would just need to press ‘send’ to notify emergency services of potential problems. In times of crisis people cannot afford the time needed to get to a phone, find the number, wait in the phone queue to be put through to the correct person, who will then hopefully understand the problem and take action. These vital minutes can mean the difference between life and death.

Southern Tasmanian residents are struggling to regain any semblance of normality after 125km per hour winds brought down powerlines, took off roofs and uprooted trees. A simple bulk text message sending from the Bureau of Meteorology to residents in the area warning them of the deepening low pressure system moving to the area could have minimised some of the damage. Even after disasters, bulk text messaging can be used to warn residents of road closures or in the case of the Tasmania’s Midland Highway fire emergency that the highway will be opened shortly. That Thursday, 22 January was declared a day of total fire ban in the Southern districts of Tasmania could have been relayed to every cell phone, using bulk text messaging, in the country reaching those without televisions, radios or the hearing impaired.

The outlook is not good for the next month in terms of bushfires and severe weather warnings for parts of New South Wales and Victoria, including the possibility of flash floods and damaging winds, has been issued. Let’s hope residents have got television or internet access…

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