The location-finding capabilities of US emergency services are woefully inadequate, this much is known. What makes it all the more tragically ironic is that the very devices most often used to call 911 — smartphones — contain exceedingly accurate location data. How hard could it be to use that data for such an important purpose? Hard enough that it took Google until just now to expand its faster, more accurate Emergency Location Service (ELS) to the US. But, hey, at least it's finally here, and Google reports that it's already saving lives.