New technology can send your location to 911 dispatchers

New technology in the palm of your hand will automatically help 911 dispatchers find you in an emergency, even if you don’t know where you are.

It’s technology that could’ve saved one woman’s life.

Nathan Lee’s wife, Denise, was kidnapped, raped and and murdered in 2008.

“She didn’t know where she was she had duct tape all over her eyes,” he said. But she managed to get her captor’s phone and dial 911.

She was on the phone with Charlotte County dispatchers for more than nine minutes trying to identify cross streets.

Even though police were within a mile of the car she was trapped in, none were dispatched to find her.

“It’s something that if it was around in 2008 I wouldn’t have been talking to you right now because Denise would’ve been rescued,” Nathan said.

Even though they weren’t able to save Denise, Nathan has made it his mission to save people on both ends of the line from going through the same tragedy with the Denise Amber Lee Foundation.

“A lot of times it takes something bad to happen for things to change,” he said.

Now things are drastically changing for your safety, the next time you call 911, your iPhone will automatically pinpoint your exact location and send it to dispatchers, in turn helping first responders get to you when seconds matter.

“It’s kind of ironic that 911 failed Denise but we want to fight for them we want to do whatever we can to help because we don’t want this to happen to not only another victim, another family, but we don’t want this to happen to another 911 center.”

Charlotte County upgraded their 911 services in 2016 to better pinpoint phones after the death of Denise Amber Lee.

Android phones are equipped with the Emergency Location Service feature that Google says, “when supported by your network, sends location from your phone to emergency services when you dial an emergency number. This uses the same location technologies available to apps on your phone, including Wi-Fi, GPS, and cell towers, to produce a more reliable emergency location both indoors and outdoors.” (more info)