by Lori A. Wood
You don’t have to subscribe to a service to have free access to 911 by cell phone. All you need is a charged phone.
On August 27, 2004, 2 weeks after her 39th birthday, Virginia “Ginny” Ellis, a quadriplegic, tragically died.
Her mother, Barbara, details what happened:
“She had a small puppy, and was taking him out for a walk. She usually didn’t go in the park. We don’t know whether the puppy got free and went in the park, or whether she followed him. There was a deep, dirty and sandy area, and she got her [motorized] wheelchair stuck. The authorities surmised that she was hollering for help, and no one heard her. There were houses around the park, but with it being the middle of the day, in August, people’s windows were closed up tight and their air conditioners were on, so no one heard her calling.”
“Independent as Ginny was, after calling for help for a length of time, she decided she would get herself out of her wheelchair and onto the ground, and she started dragging her body out of the park. Evidently, between the exhaustion of that effort and the heat, she fainted and became unconscious, with her face going straight down into the sand.”
As she breathed in increasing amounts of sand and dirt, Ginny eventually asphyxiated. Her body was found by neighborhood children, 148 feet from her wheelchair.
“She was very strong and independent, and had an amazing attitude,” Barbara recalls. “She moved to Florida 18 years ago, from Middleboro, Massachusetts, and decided that she really liked the area.”
Barbara remembers the intense time that followed her daughter’s injury-a car accident on December 24, 1998, that rendered her a C4-C5 complete quadriplegic-and how far Ginny had come since.
“There was a short time of anger, but she was bound and determined to become independent again. She went to a rehab facility in Melbourne, Florida for 3 months, and worked very hard to be able to hold a spoon and dress herself. We came home, and she continued to work hard in physical and occupational therapy. She was always looking for ways to better herself. Her spirit was phenomenal. She felt that she could do anything she wanted to do, she just had to find a different way to do it.”
Ginny’s determination was paying off. She had regained some movement in her right toe, ankle, knee, and hip, as well as her left thigh. Eventually, she was diagnosed with incomplete quadriplegia.
In her tireless efforts to increase her independence, Ginny would sometimes fall out of her chair. She then would drag herself to the phone for help. “I had cordless phones all over the house, so she had access to a phone, no matter where she was,” says Barbara.
For those with disabilities, obtaining access to emergency services isn’t always easy, but it is probably easier than you think.
According to Federal Communications Commission rules, 47 CFR 20.18(b), a call to 911 is free, and you need not buy minutes, or subscribe to any cell phone carrier to take advantage of this, you just need to keep the phone charged and with you. Not many people, however, are aware of this capability.
“Ginny would be alive today if she had known of this law,” Barbara declares. “It basically says that all cell phone companies will relay 911 calls to the nearest emergency station. It doesn’t have to come from one of their own customers. But, for people living on Social Security or disability payments and paying for college, rehab and therapy, cell phones are considered a luxury.”
At www.usedcellphones.com/ contactus/phonerequest.cfm, a person may request a free, used cell phone, specifically for emergency use. But, as Barbara explains, “After almost 6 years of contact with the disability community and its institutions, we got information and flyers on everything from counseling help to proper nutrition. Unfortunately, not in any instance was there ever mention that 911 is free with a cell phone. It doesn’t have to be activated for users to get 911. Hospital caseworkers and social workers really need to get this information out to everyone. For this information never to be told or heard about is just unreal.
“You don’t have to be technically proficient to get help,” says Barbara “With enhanced 911, they can pinpoint your exact location. When you most need it, a cell phone could make the difference. It could save your life, or that of a loved one. There are many emergency- only cell phones that have been adapted for the disabled. One has a big red button in the center that you can reach with any part of your body. There are others in which just one press of any button will dial 911.”
An example of the latter, the SafeGuardianâ„¢ One Touch GPS Safety Phone, can be found here: www.safeguardian.com. Pricing information can be found at: www.safeguardian.com/order.htm.
Lori A. Wood is a frequent contributor to Orbit. This article originally appeared on www.mobilewomen.org in a slightly different form and is used with permission.
