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Published November 05, 2009, 08:13 AM

Official: 911 dispatchers can pinpoint calls

An official with the North Dakota Association of Counties says it's impossible to know whether authorities would have been able to find three Dickinson State University softball players faster had they called 911 on their cell phone rather than friends.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — An official with the North Dakota Association of Counties says it's impossible to know whether authorities would have been able to find three Dickinson State University softball players faster had they called 911 on their cell phone rather than friends.

Russ Lindblom did say that 911 dispatch centers have cell phone technology that lets them pinpoint the area from which the call is made.

He says as long as the dispatchers can connect with a caller for 15 seconds, they can get the coordinates. According to Lindblom, most times the readings are mere yards from the call site.

Also, he says, a caller must be in satellite range to get that information.

Officials think the three students accidentally drove their SUV into a farm pond north of Dickinson on Sunday night and frantically called friends for help.

Their bodies were recovered Tuesday.

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