It’s 9-1-1 Public Education Month and a Celebration of National Telecommunicator Week 2019

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!