Role of Cell Phones in Emergency Preparedness Kit
Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2004 2:48 pm
I've read a bunch of "emergency preparedness" lists lately that recommend cell phones as (implied) reliable means of communication during weather or other emergencies/disasters.
From what I know of cellphones I do not believe this to be true-I've read it in a variety of "reliable sources" but I think that the emergeny preparedness people have not investigated properly.
Actually, the "public switched telephone network"--traditional landlines are much more likely to work than cell phones. For one thing, there is a lot of buried cable. For another, by regulation, the "central office" equipment has very sophisticated battery backup equipment that will hold the network operational for quite a few days--even with increased traffic, etc. of an emergency.
Cell phone carriers have no such regulations requiring them to spend that kind of money! Sure they have some "battery back-up" but nothing as sophisticated or as durable. If the tower is not operating &/or the "central office" equipment is not working, your cell phone will not work. The chances of this equipment not working are much greater than the chances of the phone company's "central office" going down.
Yes, phones do go down. More to the point, whenever there is a major disaster, the phone company shuts down calls into the area to prevent the network overload that results when a gazillion people all try to call in. And they may "shut down" outgoing long-distance circuits, etc.
I think it is a problem for emergency preparedness people to tell people they can depend upon their cell phones... I've an elderly couple next door (79 and 82 years old) who actually purchased cell phones for this purpose. But our cell service here is spotty at best (there are not enough cell towers for good/reliable service) and any storm involving wind will take out the existing towers entirely. So even if the people next door begin with fully-charged cell phones, they will deplete the batteries very quickly looking for a signal, and their calls probably will not go through!. So they have spent money they ill afford for protection they probably will not have.
What would perhaps be worth looking at (and there must be some people on this board who know about such things) would be the walkie-talkies with decent ranges. Yes, you have to have a license for these, but even relatively young children can be taught to operate them and they have 3 mile range or so. Having such walkie-talkies (or some other type of radio) might make more sense for family members to communicate. Radios do work in disasters...
Does anyone have good information on this out there?
From what I know of cellphones I do not believe this to be true-I've read it in a variety of "reliable sources" but I think that the emergeny preparedness people have not investigated properly.
Actually, the "public switched telephone network"--traditional landlines are much more likely to work than cell phones. For one thing, there is a lot of buried cable. For another, by regulation, the "central office" equipment has very sophisticated battery backup equipment that will hold the network operational for quite a few days--even with increased traffic, etc. of an emergency.
Cell phone carriers have no such regulations requiring them to spend that kind of money! Sure they have some "battery back-up" but nothing as sophisticated or as durable. If the tower is not operating &/or the "central office" equipment is not working, your cell phone will not work. The chances of this equipment not working are much greater than the chances of the phone company's "central office" going down.
Yes, phones do go down. More to the point, whenever there is a major disaster, the phone company shuts down calls into the area to prevent the network overload that results when a gazillion people all try to call in. And they may "shut down" outgoing long-distance circuits, etc.
I think it is a problem for emergency preparedness people to tell people they can depend upon their cell phones... I've an elderly couple next door (79 and 82 years old) who actually purchased cell phones for this purpose. But our cell service here is spotty at best (there are not enough cell towers for good/reliable service) and any storm involving wind will take out the existing towers entirely. So even if the people next door begin with fully-charged cell phones, they will deplete the batteries very quickly looking for a signal, and their calls probably will not go through!. So they have spent money they ill afford for protection they probably will not have.
What would perhaps be worth looking at (and there must be some people on this board who know about such things) would be the walkie-talkies with decent ranges. Yes, you have to have a license for these, but even relatively young children can be taught to operate them and they have 3 mile range or so. Having such walkie-talkies (or some other type of radio) might make more sense for family members to communicate. Radios do work in disasters...
Does anyone have good information on this out there?
