CenturyLink Outage Prompts Ranker Bill

Ranker bill will provide critical information to emergency personnel in a time of crisis.

 — from  Aaron Wasser —

During the nearly two-week telecommunications outage in San Juan County last November, two horrible situations occurred because first responders could not respond to the most vulnerable in their time of need. With no 911 service available and the life alert systems not working, the only way for our first responders to make sure our vulnerable were okay was to go door to door.

The fire department requested locations of life alert customers, recognizing that these individuals would be the most vulnerable without help. Unfortunately, internal rules prevented the companies from revealing the locations of their subscribers and two people who had been in serious need of medical attention went without help. One of these individuals went without help and was unable to move for two full days and tragically, the other passed away.

Senate Bill 6554, sponsored by Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island, will remedy this situation in the future. The Bill passed out of the Energy, Environment and Telecommunications Committee today with strong bipartisan support. Specifically the bill will ensure the location of life alert subscribers will be required to be provided to emergency personnel in a time of crisis. Further, the bill goes into specific detail to in order to fully ensure the privacy of the life alert customers during and after the emergency situation.

Senator Kevin Ranker and Orcas Fire and Rescue Chief Kevin O’Brien

“This is about public safety and making absolutely sure our first responders have access to the critical information they need to do their job in a time of crisis,” Ranker said. “I’d like to thank Orcas Island Fire Chief Kevin O’Brien for traveling all the way down to Olympia today to testify on this bill. His insight and first-hand experience was crucial.”

Life alert customer information is confidential and may only be used by first responders in responding to the emergency that prompted the information request. Any first responder receiving the information must destroy it at the end of the emergency and give written notification of such destruction to the company.

Life alert services allow persons in need of emergency assistance to contact a call center through the activation of a wearable device, such as a pendant or bracelet.

The bill now awaits action on the Senate floor.