Tens of thousands of hotels don’t allow guests to directly reach emergency services when they dial 911, according to a national survey taken after a 9-year-old girl couldn’t call for help while her mother was being stabbed to death in a Texas motel.
The killing of Kari Hunt Dunn spurred a petition that has garnered more than 440,000 signatures demanding hotels and motels be required to enable the direct dialing of 911. Many hotels require callers to dial “9” before 911 or have some other system, such as calling first to the front desk, which advocates say can lead to panic and confusion in an emergency.
The petition got the attention of Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai, whose office on Monday announced the results of a survey done after Dunn’s death by the American Hotel & Lodging Association. The industry group found that about 45 percent of franchised hotels and motels and 32 percent of independent hotels have direct 911 dialing.
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I found out personally that you also cant call 911 from state to state When my mom suffered a stroke in florida while on the phone with her son in Maryland; he could not get her an ambulance when he called 911, nor could they dispatch to Florida emergence services.They said hold on and left it that way. We lost precious time calling the neighbors in Fla. so they could call 911 there. How ridiculous and dangerous
also- cant always call 911 from one state to another. When my mom was having a stroke; while on the phone with her son in another state, 911 could not respond and put him on hold. We lost precious time while we had to call neighbors to call 911 in fla. How ridiculous and dangerous