New software update on iPhone allows Butler 911 dispatchers to use video calls to aid response

BUTLER, Pa. — A new software update on your iPhone is now changing the game when it comes to technology and emergency calls in Butler County.

“If somebody calls to report their house on fire, they can be sent a link to show us how big the fire is, where the fire is at, if there is anybody still inside, where they are inside,” said Riley Ferguson, a Butler County 911 dispatcher.

It’s all with the click of a button using Rapid SOS, a software that almost all Pennsylvania 911 Centers are already using.

”We are able to use that live video to relay information that our callers can show us where before we were just going off what they were telling us now we can go off what they show us,” Ferguson said.

It’s up to the caller to accept the video request and the video starts blurred so the dispatcher has to manually remove it.

“We’ve added in some layered protection to make sure they aren’t seeing or exposed to any trauma they don’t want to be,” said Loren Bolton with Rapid SOS.

Butler County is one of the first dispatch centers in our area to move forward with using this new tool and plan to showcase how technology can aid in emergency response.

“When someone is doing life-saving measures like CPR, they can show us what they are doing and we can verify if they are doing it correctly as most of us are medically trained in here,” Ferguson said.

Right now, the new feature will only work with iPhone 14 and newer. As for Google, it will launch a similar capability at the end of the year.

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