9-1-1 Education Month in April serves as an important time
for 9-1-1 educators to provide outreach to communities. This helps ensure they
are aware of the different ways to contact 9-1-1 in an emergency as well as how
and when to call. The second full week in April also serves as National Public
Safety Telecommunicators Week (April 14-20, 2019). This week recognizes
telecommunicators and dispatchers who dedicate their lives to serving the
public and deserve recognition for their hard work.
For those of you who do not know, telecommunicators, also
known as call-takers or dispatchers, are individuals who work for an emergency
service provider (usually 9-1-1) and are qualified to answer incoming emergency
telephone calls and then provide for the appropriate emergency response. They answer
the tough 9-1-1 calls 24/7 to help get the public the emergency services they
need in a timely manner.
In 1991, Congress recognized telecommunicator’s efforts and
created a special week distinguishing who they are and the importance they play
in our society. In 2008, the House of Representatives passed a resolution to
increase national awareness about the importance and appropriate use of 9-1-1
and created a month dedicated to 9-1-1 education. With this, Congress encouraged
public awareness events, advertising campaigns, outreach activities and
training/education for parents and teachers.
Below you will find some important topics to educate on
this month:
Call
if You Can, Text if You Can’t: Many agencies across the
country have started implementing text-to-911 services. While more and more
entities are incorporating text to 9-1-1, there is still only a small
percentage of the country that has it available. If you see a sign or
information in your region promoting that you can text to 9-1-1, then you can
guarantee it is available. But if you do not, then please assume you can’t text
to 9-1-1 and please call if you need help. If you do text to 9-1-1 and it is
NOT available in the area, you will receive a bounce back message instructing
you to please call 9-1-1 for help.
Know
Your Location: Most people have smart phones these days. And
on these smart phones there are many apps that can find our location
information. Because of that, it doesn’t seem far-fetched to think that if we
have GPS in our phone then 9-1-1 should be able to find us when we call. This
is actually not the case. When you
call 9-1-1 from a cell phone/smart phone, dispatchers are only able to see
approximately where you are and not specifically where you are located. Remember
to always be attentive and know your location. Look for mile markers,
landmarks, cross streets and addresses on buildings. This information could
potentially save your life or another life!
Kari’s
Law:
A fairly new law called Kari’s Law affects business with multi-line telephone
systems (MLTS) so it is important that they are in compliance. This law has to
do with providing direct access to 9-1-1 from a MLTS without having to dial an
additional digit. Business service users with MLTS phones must have their
phones set to be able to dial 9-1-1 directly without dialing an extra digit
first. For more info on Kari’s Law visit www.texas911.org/karislaw. Recently,
there was a bill at the federal level to provide direct access to 9-1-1 that
passed. You can learn more about the federal law here.
Stay
Calm, Don’t Hang Up: Whenever someone calls 9-1-1, it is important
for them to stay calm and stay on the phone until emergency services arrive or
the 9-1-1 call-taker tells them it is okay to hang up. Staying calm helps the dispatcher
get answers to the questions they need to help the caller get emergency
services quickly. Staying on the phone until emergency services arrive ensures
the person who called has safety or can share information the emergency responder
might need to relay to emergency services personnel.
Please remember that 9-1-1 is for emergency use only and
should never be abused or used for fun. It not only helps save lives, but is an
important tool in helping our society to get the aid they need. For more
information on 9-1-1 education, please visit www.csec.texas.gov. You can also
find resourceful information on 9-1-1 in this PDF
print off provided by the National Emergency Number Association
(NENA).
P.S. Looking for Cell Phone Sally public education materials to help with your program or to purchase for sharing at community events? Visit www.my911shop.com. Don't see what you need? Email them and they can research it and potentially still purchase it for you!
