OT How do you get Google Maps attention?

FredC · Aug 13, 2020

About a week ago we had an EMS call down the road from here. A request came from EMS for a helicopter transport. Our fire department should have been called but was not to take care of the landing site for the helicopter. The 3 agencies that were called and took care of the landing zone did not know that Google maps incorrectly locates our addresses on this road. You can type "W" or type out "west" "West" or "WEST!!!" and Google maps will go east. I am guessing the helicopter pilot used Google maps, he was asked by one of the ground crew if he wanted GPS coordinates but declined as his map showed a positive location for the address. From the time the pilot reported he was 2 minutes out till he landed was over 20 minutes. He did come from the east when finally sighted. Not sure if it made a difference but the patient died.

Mapquest will get you here no problem they seem to know east from west. I was able to force Google to get my address correct and the place where the patient died address by reporting a problem with the individual addresses. To fix the whole road, is the question. It has to be easier than going up and down the road and getting every single address and reporting the individual problems. I talked to the county emergency coordinator and they have no clue as to how to contact google. Local emergency coordinators took control of addresses from the Post Office about 20 years ago so that EMS, fire and law enforcement could find the people and locations in an emergency. They have a good system 100 on the address is a tenth of a mile, 1000 a mile, 12,501 will be 12 and a half miles on the south or east side of the road. Easy peasy! Wish Google could figure it out.

bloomautomatic · Aug 13, 2020

Did you try this?
Report an error on the map - Computer - Google Maps Help

I've used that to correct some incomplete and incorrect roads in my town and it worked. I didn't have to give house numbers or anything. I think I even corresponded with a real person during the process.

drom68 · Aug 13, 2020

FredC said:
About a week ago we had an EMS call down the road from here. A request came from EMS for a helicopter transport. Our fire department should have been called but was not to take care of the landing site for the helicopter. The 3 agencies that were called and took care of the landing zone did not know that Google maps incorrectly locates our addresses on this road. You can type "W" or type out "west" "West" or "WEST!!!" and Google maps will go east. I am guessing the helicopter pilot used Google maps, he was asked by one of the ground crew if he wanted GPS coordinates but declined as his map showed a positive location for the address. From the time the pilot reported he was 2 minutes out till he landed was over 20 minutes. He did come from the east when finally sighted. Not sure if it made a difference but the patient died.

Mapquest will get you here no problem they seem to know east from west. I was able to force Google to get my address correct and the place where the patient died address by reporting a problem with the individual addresses. To fix the whole road, is the question. It has to be easier than going up and down the road and getting every single address and reporting the individual problems. I talked to the county emergency coordinator and they have no clue as to how to contact google. Local emergency coordinators took control of addresses from the Post Office about 20 years ago so that EMS, fire and law enforcement could find the people and locations in an emergency. They have a good system 100 on the address is a tenth of a mile, 1000 a mile, 12,501 will be 12 and a half miles on the south or east side of the road. Easy peasy! Wish Google could figure it out.

If you can use google maps, use Plus Code.
How it works

gustafson · Aug 13, 2020

I would make sure what service the pilot was using, there are several.
I tried to fix an issue with GPS telling people to make an illegal left turn across traffic, and it turns out there are other companies that feed information to the gps places and it gets byzantine.

Yeah, 20 minutes would be considered the difference between life and death

FredC · Aug 13, 2020

bloomautomatic said:
Did you try this?
Report an error on the map - Computer - Google Maps Help

I've used that to correct some incomplete and incorrect roads in my town and it worked. I didn't have to give house numbers or anything. I think I even corresponded with a real person during the process.

That page got me to a point i could actually type a message. Before I was only correcting one address at a time. Thanks. Will have to wait and see what happens next.

FredC · Aug 13, 2020

gustafson said:
I would make sure what service the pilot was using, there are several.

Yeah, that is on my to do list.

DDoug · Aug 13, 2020

A large field of grass, a lawnmower, and some obscenities.....

FredC · Aug 13, 2020

digger doug said:
A large field of grass, a lawnmower, and some obscenities.....

I have fighter pilots doing training over my place almost every day, ya think the obscenities is a good idea?

Mark Rand · Aug 13, 2020

Do any of the US emergency servises use what3words yet? UK ones started using it about a year ago and Australian ones also seem to be using it. Both have had success in locating incidents with it.

It will give the location of any 10 foot square in the world from three easily pronouncable words. If you're calling them from a cell phone, then the app can give you your position for you to tell the emergency service.

As an example, my home shop location is ///loudly.dusty.works (pure chance, I'm sure!)

sfriedberg · Aug 13, 2020

Never heard of it, Mark. Yet another thing to learn.

DDoug · Aug 13, 2020

FredC said:
I have fighter pilots doing training over my place almost every day, ya think the obscenities is a good idea?

Wasn't someone on here last year going to put a FanÜc on a Zero turn mower ?

Helical interpolation et all....

EPAIII · Aug 14, 2020

A while back there was a RR accident and I looked for it on Google Maps. They showed it at the wrong location. I was able to figure out the correct location from the information in the news article. So I used the same link as shown below and reported it with the correct information. They had it corrected within hours.

I suggest you use the link and also give a phone number of e-mail address where you can be reached. It seems to me that they want their information to be correct.

And I do understand the problem. I spent the better part of an hour looking for a tire store here in town using the Google Maps location. They had it on the wrong side of the interstate and about a half mile distant from the correct location. I told the tire store they should get that corrected.

bloomautomatic said:
Did you try this?
Report an error on the map - Computer - Google Maps Help

I've used that to correct some incomplete and incorrect roads in my town and it worked. I didn't have to give house numbers or anything. I think I even corresponded with a real person during the process.

EmGo · Aug 14, 2020

EPAIII said:
A while back there was a RR accident and I looked for it on Google Maps. They showed it at the wrong location.

Wasn't there a lady using google maps on a really foggy night a few years ago, who turned into a lake and drowned ?

I take gps with about a pound of salt. Assistant believes it implicitly.

One of these days there's gonna be a shootout ....

UptownSport · Aug 14, 2020

Did you know the US invaded Serbia in 2005 under similar circumstances?

It's true.

One of the lieutenants was doing a final ride along with our relieving unit. The relieving helo pilots landed just across the Kosovo border- In Serbia- and offloaded troops- Despite the LT shouting in coms that they were in Serbia.

The LT just yelled at them them to run back across the border, LoL.

Stupid, arrogant pilots who can't read a map.

FredC · Aug 14, 2020

EPAIII said:
A while back there was a RR accident and I looked for it on Google Maps. They showed it at the wrong location. I was able to figure out the correct location from the information in the news article. So I used the same link as shown below and reported it with the correct information. They had it corrected within hours.

I suggest you use the link and also give a phone number of e-mail address where you can be reached. It seems to me that they want their information to be correct.

And I do understand the problem. I spent the better part of an hour looking for a tire store here in town using the Google Maps location. They had it on the wrong side of the interstate and about a half mile distant from the correct location. I told the tire store they should get that corrected.

Will keep doing it till it gets fixed for the whole road. I have already done my address and the address where the woman died. Next time I will read more carefully I thought they did not want phone numbers on the report.
Thanks.

FredC · Aug 14, 2020

digger doug said:
Wasn't someone on here last year going to put a FanÜc on a Zero turn mower ?

Helical interpolation et all....

That was not me I hate the concept of zero turns. Had a hand on the ranch that mowed with those things. I could not get him to understand a tractor pulling a shredder can not do a 90 turn safely. I spent an hour rounding the corners in a field and he had them back to 90s in a couple of rounds. ARRG!!! Milenials! GRR!! Don't get me started!

BT Fabrication · Aug 14, 2020

EmanuelGoldstein said:
Wasn't there a lady using google maps on a really foggy night a few years ago, who turned into a lake and drowned ?

I take gps with about a pound of salt. Assistant believes it implicitly.

One of these days there's gonna be a shootout ....

there was a lady around here one winter that drove into the harbor, because the google maps had a solid line across the water for the CHiCHiMon ferry.
It was kinda frozen over till she broke through at the boat launch ramp. when she went in.

FredC · Aug 14, 2020

Mark Rand said:
Do any of the US emergency servises use what3words yet? UK ones started using it about a year ago and Australian ones also seem to be using it. Both have had success in locating incidents with it.

It will give the location of any 10 foot square in the world from three easily pronouncable words. If you're calling them from a cell phone, then the app can give you your position for you to tell the emergency service.

As an example, my home shop location is ///loudly.dusty.works (pure chance, I'm sure!)

Interesting concept but I am thinking it will be internet reliant. We have had solid internet here at the shop for years but had to jump through some hoops to do it. Outside antennas with a cellular modem and a compatible router did the trick.
Tried the same set up with identical components at the house 200 yards away and it has been a struggle. Not there yet. Our emergency coverage area is hundreds of square miles most of it is even further away from the cell towers. Hand held GPS units work anywhere. Just a pain to relay the numbers to the helicopter pilot.

Mark Rand · Aug 14, 2020

It isn't Internet reliant, once you've loaded the app. The database is quite small. Just uses the phones location software.

OT How do you get Google Maps attention?

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