BEDFORD – Scott Smith Assistant Addressing Coordinator addressed the commissioners this morning.
Smith is urging residents to sign up for Smart911 and place reflective address signs on their homes.
“Having a visible address is important when you call for assistance from police, fire, and ambulance services. Without the reflective addresses it makes it difficult for first responders to find your home quickly in the dark,” added Smith. “And Smart911 allows residents to be prepared for any emergency by giving public safety the information they need to better help and communicate with you.”
Smart911 also allows residents to stay informed of weather, traffic, and other emergencies in their community.
This service is available free to residents across Lawrence County, through their website, or their mobile app.
The aim of the program is to save time in the response that could be vital.
Smart911 is essentially a safety profile that you can create that is a set of information about an individual or household that is contained within one account on Smart911.com or on the app.
“Information on the safety profile can include details about all members of your home, phone numbers, addresses, including your home and work,” said Smith. “You can add details about medical conditions, medications, vehicles, pets, and emergency contacts. And essentially that safety profile will allow dispatch, to see all that important information if you were to call 911 In an emergency, which can save critical time in their response.”
Residents can create profiles that will be linked to their phone number where this information will be stored. Once they call, dispatchers will then be able to see important information that the user input, such as people living in the household, pets, vehicles, and more.
The information provided through this service is secure and available only to dispatchers in the event of a call.
Information provided to the app is also protected on the device itself through a PIN code, so anybody with access to a user’s phone would need to be able to input their code to view or change their information.
Some specific examples of ways this information could potentially be beneficial are calls where the resident has indicated there is a history of domestic violence in their home, which will flag any calls they make as potentially domestic abuse situations, or calls from residents with sensory issues that may not like to be touched, who can now provide that information to dispatch at the time of calling to help avoid any potential issues once responders arrive.
