Montgomery County 9-1-1 and its partners are introducing a free service available to plan ahead for an emergency – Smart911. The recent flooding combined with the start of a new hurricane season reminds us of why it is important to prepare for dangerous conditions.
Smart911, a national public safety service, allows individuals and families to create an on-line safety profile which includes critical information for first responders such as names, home address, medical notes, disabilities, emergency contacts, and even descriptions of pets. When 9-1-1 is dialed from any phone number registered to the profile, the information is shown to dispatchers who can relay addresses and current information to first responders in the field. As the 4th of July holiday approaches, Montgomery County residents are encouraged to create a free safety profile at www.smart911.com. They can provide as much or as little information as they like, and their profile is private and secure; the information is only used in an emergency.
These details in a safety profile can improve the outcome of an emergency in various ways, including:
- A Medical Emergency Information on allergies, medications, medical conditions, or disabilities given to public safety personnel while in route helps them arrive prepared and possibly begin treatment sooner.
- Emergency Call from a Child Children probably know how to dial 9-1-1, but they may not be able to relay the information needed to get help quickly. Details such as an address or medical notes on a family member can be included in the Safety Profile so the dispatcher does not have to rely on the child for information.
- An Incident While Driving When someone is in a car accident or experiences a medical issue while driving, the dispatcher will have access to vehicle details to help responders locate them faster as well as medical notes for treatment instructions.
- An Incident at Home In the event of a house fire, accident or other emergency at home, a safety profiles provides a home address, access instructions, occupants of the house, descriptions of pets so responders can arrive faster and help account for loved ones.
“Members of our community have many concerns when it comes to their health and safety,” said Chip VanSteenberg, Executive Director. “If they need to dial 9-1-1, it can be a great reassurance to know that emergency responders will have a head start understanding their specific needs and developing the best response plan.”
Smart911 is a national service provided by Rave Mobile Safety and is available in over 1,500 communities across 40 states.
This is a good idea, but their website needs work. If you request "notifications" in your profile, SMS (Text) is automatically checked -- you can't uncheck it. But if you haven't entered a mobile phone (I don't have one) that'll generate an error and you can't save your notification choices. I tried to leave a comment about that problem, but the "contact us" portion of the site doesn't work, either. Catch 22.
