Responders Save Lost Hunter Using Caller Location Data

When a hunter discovered he was trapped in an unstable tree stand and unable to get to the ground safely, he called 911. To make matters more challenging, he was deep in the woods in a rural area in Paducah, Kentucky, unsure of his exact location, with no nearby roadways.

For many telecommunicators, this call could be the start of a tedious process — asking a series of questions to identify the general location of the caller, dispatching first responders with limited knowledge of the scene or equipment needed, and initiating a search for the lost individual before the rescue process could even begin.

However, telecommunicators with Paducah Central Dispatch had an ace up their sleeve: access to the caller’s device location. Telecommunicator Hillary Fowler pinpointed the hunter’s location, surveyed the rural landscape, and was immediately able to dispatch the appropriate apparatus using Tyler Technologies’ Enterprise CAD solution, which features integrated RapidSOS Clearinghouse technology.

As McCracken County fire units arrived on scene, telecommunicator Patrick Bugg leaned into another secret weapon. Because the responders on scene were using Tyler’s Fire Field Mobile app, Bugg was able to track the movements of individual firefighters via real-time mapping functionality in Enterprise CAD and provide turn-by-turn navigation instructions — guiding responders through fields, across a creek, and deep into the tree line where they located the stranded hunter.

According to Paducah Communications Manager Kim Clark, although Paducah-McCracken County has a population of just 65,000, there is a major influx during the day from commuters, shoppers, and interstate traffic. For a relatively small town, that means the dispatch centers often receive big-city call volume, and instances where the RapidSOS integration have come into play are not uncommon.

2023 TEA Winner: Paducah Police Department

The Paducah Police Department won a 2023 Tyler Excellence Award for its innovative use of Tyler solutions. Read about the award.

"We received a call from a man following his stolen truck on a motorcycle,” Clark said. “His phone continued to disconnect, but because we could track his cell phone location even after his call disconnected, we were able to recover his truck two counties over.”

Clark continued, “We were also able to track a woman who called 911 and left the line open while being held against her will in a moving vehicle. As she talked to her abductor, dispatchers picked up details from the discussion while tracking her location. We were able to find her in just 16 minutes. Our dispatchers have so many of these stories where the RapidSOS integration in Enterprise CAD has made all the difference."

The RapidSOS integration that made these rescues possible has not only been a “game changer,” but was also surprisingly easy to implement.

“I've talked to many Enterprise CAD users who don't know the RapidSOS integration exists or are afraid they won't be able to bring it to fruition, but it was simple,” said Clark.

Clark also credits Fire Field Mobile with a major operational shift.

“In the hands of command staff and front-line workers, Tyler’s Fire Field Mobile app has leveled the playing field, ensuring everyone immediate access to the same information instantly — including regional partners, regardless of the technical abilities of their agencies.”

Separately, these functionalities provide meaningful efficiencies to first responders, but paired together, they’re even more powerful.

“With RapidSOS and Enterprise Fire Field Mobile, we can track the location of both the 911 caller and the responders on the scene,” Clark said. “Using the two technologies together delivered a degree of operational efficiency we did not even know we needed and made these rescues possible.”

Interested in how this technology can improve your agency’s emergency response? Learn more about Enterprise CAD, Fire Field Mobile, and the full suite of Enterprise Public Safety solutions.