Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office introduces What3Words program to assist 911 callers
“The what3words program provides a new tool for emergency services throughout Cherokee County by giving 911 dispatchers additional technology to assist anyone who needs emergency assistance, but are unsure of their exact location,” according to Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Nate Jones, in announcing the implementation of the new program.
What3words provides users with a simple way to communicate precise locations, having divided the world into a grid of 10ft x 10ft squares and assigning each square a unique combination of three words.
“We have seen instances when someone has been camping or fishing at the pits, hunting, or even other occasions, such as coming up on a traffic crash or another emergency, but is unable to clearly communicate to the emergency dispatcher precisely where they are located. With what3words, dispatch will be able to pinpoint where the caller is located and provide essential emergency services in a quicker amount of time,” continued Chief Deputy Jones.
“While this tool isn’t a replacement for traditional 911 calls, with over 57 trillion 10 ft x 10 ft squares in the world, this does provide a great option to obtain emergency services, particularly in times when you aren’t sure exactly where you are. Another great benefit is the service is available, even offline, making it ideal for use in areas with unreliable data connection,” concluded Chief Deputy Jones.
Chief Deputy Jones encourages residents to download the free what3word app which is available for IOS and Android devices.