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USERS GUIDE TO 911
Nearly everyone will have to use 9-1-1 during their lifetime. If you are not properly trained in responding to an emergency, you will experience fear, panic, doubt, and confusion. The information provided here will help you to respond appropriately to an emergency.
When faced with an emergency situation, REMAIN CALM! You can calm yourself by taking a deep breath and a split second to gain your composure. Determine what has happened then ask yourself, "What must I do?" Then immediately take action. By concentrating on what you need to be doing, you will avoid panic. To help you decide if your call is an emergency, ask yourself, "Are the Police, the Fire Department, or Paramedic assistance needed right now to protect life or property?" If you answered yes, IMMEDIATELY DIAL 9-1-1 and tell the dispatcher what is happening.
Dial 9-1-1
- If you normally dial "9" to get an outside line at work, remember to dial that "9" before you dial 9-1-1, if you have an emergency.
- Tell the operator what the emergency is.
- Wait for further instructions from the operator
- Don't hang up until the operator tells you to
What is an Emergency? Dial 9-1-1 ONLY for emergencies.
Emergencies might include but are not limited to:
- Cardiac arrest
- Constant chest pain - in adults (lasting longer than two minutes).
- Severe allergic reaction (difficulty breathing / unresponsive)
- Uncontrollable bleeding / large blood loss
- Drowning
- Electrocution
- Drug overdose /poisoning.
- Gunshot wounds, stabbings
- Convulsions / seizures (uncontrolled jerking, movements the patient may fall to the floor).
- Breathing difficulty/shortness of breath/ breathing has stopped.
- Choking (can't talk or breathe).
- Major burns (white or charred skin: blisters and redness over large area)
- Someone who will not wake up, even when you shake them
- SEVERE injuries from:
- Traffic accidents
- Head Injury
- Significant falls
- Physical entrapment (i.e. car accident with victim trapped in the vehicle)
- Any kind of Fire whether it's a home, business, vacant building, vehicle, brush or forest fire.
- Any emergency where life, body or personal property is in immediate danger;
- Such as burglary in progress
- Destruction of someone's vehicle
- Fights in progress or anything involving weapons.
If you are not sure whether something is an emergency or not, dial 9-1-1 and let the operator make that determination.
What information will the 911 dispatcher need?
- The location where assistance is needed.
- Your name and phone number.
- The nature of the emergency.
- Descriptions of suspects, or additional information.
- Which way did the suspect leave? Be as specific as possible. Avoid using "left" and "right" as directions. This is often confusing. Instead use a direction such as "North" or "South". Were they running, or in a vehicle? Were they going north, south, east, or west? Obstacles that could prevent the rescue crews from reaching the victim. The person is locked in the house, electrical lines down around the scene, etc. Keep your information factual. Do Not exaggerate the situation. Tell the 9-1-1 dispatcher what you know, and if you don't know, say you aren't sure.
Helpful Hints:
- Always listen to the dispatcher for guidance. You may wish to write out your address on a small piece of paper and tack it on the wall above your phone, or tape it to the bottom of your phone. This will make it easier to give or verify your address if you or your child become too nervous or frightened to remember it.
- The questions the dispatchers ask are for the safety of the public and the officers.Just because they are questioning you, does not mean help is not on the way. Information is entered into a computer and can be dispatched by another operator. The officers may arrive while you are still talking to the initial operator. Remain on the line until told to hang up. The operator may need more information or to give you further instructions.
- Be familiar with your area. We can't help if you don't know where you are. NEVER intervene in a crime in progress.
- The enhanced 911 system provides the dispatcher the location, phone number, and to whom the phone is listed. It only provides the information from where the call is being placed. The information is verified while the dispatcher is asking you questions. There are occasionally errors in the information provided by the telephone companies. The dispatcher is just making sure the help is sent to the correct address. If you are calling for someone else at a different location, be sure to make that known to the dispatcher.
What to do when you need help, but it's not an emergency.
- Call the local Police or Fire Department.
- Tell the operator the problem.
- The operator will ask you questions and tell you when to hang up.
- The local number should be used for non-emergencies like requesting police assistance on less urgent matters. Usually, these will be property damage accidents, reports of various crimes where the perpetrator is gone, and the primary function of the police will be information gathering and investigation. Also, incidents in progress which are of a less serious nature, such as nuisance calls, etc. should go to this number.
What are non-emergency calls?
- Property damage accidents ("Fender Benders").
- Break-in to a vehicle (when suspect is gone).
- Theft of property (when suspect is gone).
- Vandalism (when suspect is gone).
- Panhandlers
- Intoxicated persons who are not disorderly.
- Cars blocking the street or alleys.
- Concerns about smoke from a controlled burn.
- Obtaining a Fire Permit.
DO NOT dial 9-1-1 if there is a power outage in your area. Contact your local utility company to report or inquire about it.
Other non-emergencies might include disabled vehicles (provided they are not auto accidents with injuries), cows and/or horses in the roadway or debris in the roadway. These calls can be handled by contacting the local Police on their direct non-emergency lines.
PLEASE do NOT dial 9-1-1 and ask us to transfer you to a police agency unless it is a REAL emergency.
Teach your Children about 9-1-1
Make sure they learn their phone number and their address. You never know, your children may need to call 9-1-1 for YOU someday. And please DO NOT refer to it as 9-11 (nine eleven), that will only confuse them. It is just as important to teach your children NOT to play with the telephone. Dialing 9-1-1 when there is no emergency may take a dispatcher away from a REAL emergency.
We typically have people call us and say "They know where we are". It is important that you always verify your address and have good directions for us to relay to the responding units.
Remain calm and do not insist that the dispatcher "hurry up" or demand that we get there "right now!" When you call the 911 center you are getting a dispatcher, you are not getting the fire company or police department or the rescue squad building. Once we have the proper information we immediately determine who is needed to respond to the call and dispatch appropriately.
Let the call taker ask you the questions. We have a certain way of handling each call. Sometimes the questions may be asked more than once to clarify or re-verify the information. Each question has a reason for being asked. No one is deliberately stalling or delaying the emergency.
Some DON'TS for 9-1-1
Never program 9-1-1 into a memory location or "speed dial." It's the one number you'll probably never forget, but when this number is in memory, we get accidental calls from people pushing the wrong button.
Never make a "test" call to 9-1-1. These occupy our operators' time and tie up lines and equipment. The Government and the telephone company have designed the 9-1-1 network for high reliability, so it will work when you need it. False calls and test calls are sometimes a problem for us.
Never call 9-1-1 and just hang up . Our policy on "hang up" calls is to call back and attempt to verify if there is an emergency. Please stay on the line and let us know that you dialled 9-1-1 by accident. Even if you don't think you dialled 9-1-1 and it comes into our office, we need you to stay on the line and let us verify that you have no problem. There are occasions where the number you are dialing triggers 9-1-1. Many times calls made out of the country trigger
9-1-1. It is important to remain on the line and verify that there is no problem. If we cannot verify to our satisfaction that everything is all right, our policy is to send police officers to the indicated address. This is to ensure that a person who is incapacitated can receive help without having to talk on the phone. Unfortunately, many "hang up" calls are false, and we have wasted police manpower and resources to respond to them. False calls cost you money, and tie up police officers who are needed on other calls. The communications division monitors false calls, and when a pattern of abuse has developed, we can take legal action against the callers.
Cellular Phone Users
Cellular phones do not work the same way as regular phones.
If you dial 9-1-1 from a cellular phone , please remember:
- Stay calm. We will not receive location or phone number information on a cellular call, and what you tell us is the only information we will have to determine how to respond.
- Know where you are. We need location information from you, and we have to determine if you are within our jurisdiction. If you are not, we will have to transfer the call.
- Know your mobile number. We will ask for it, in case the call is disconnected, and we have to call you back for more information. (And, leave your phone "on" so we can call you back.)
Each call is answered by a dispatcher. As soon as the dispatcher gets enough information, he/she will dispatch transfer the call to the proper agency. (Police/Fire Ambulance)
- At this time the call taker/interviewer will be asking additional questions and or giving you instructions to help in that particular situation.
- If it is a police emergency, the call taker will instruct you on the best way to maintain your safety.
- If it is a fire call, the call taker will instruct you to get out of the residence. He/she will need to know if there is anyone in the building who cannot get out and why.
- If it is a medical call the call taker will be able to give you instructions on what to do to help the patient until the EMS personnel get on the scene. For example, if the patient is bleeding, the call taker will instruct you to take a clean cloth and place it over the wound applying pressure. If the patient isn't breathing, our call taker will instruct you on how to do rescue breathing. For choking we can give you instructions on how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver and for cardiac arrest we can give CPR instructions. Sometimes the instructions we give you may only include having the patient lie down, elevate his/her feet and monitor his breathing and conscious level until EMS arrives. Sometimes that is all you can do. Other instructions that we will give you is to get medication ready for the EMS personnel to see and to put any family pets in another closed room away from the patient. Pets have a tendency to be protective of the patient and may even bite when they are not normally aggressive. Everything you do can be a big help to the patient as long as you REMAIN CALM.
Background Information On 9-1-1
- This emergency number is for police, fire and medical emergencies only.
- This number should only be used for life-threatening emergencies, when seconds count in making a response.
- If you call a 9-1-1 center with a situation which is not deemed to be an emergency, you will be referred to an non-emergency number.
- When you call 9-1-1, the dispatcher is normally automatically provided with your phone number and address from telephone company records. However, we will ask you for this information to verify it.
Paying for 9-1-1
Calls to 9-1-1 from pay phones and cellular phones are free. The companies providing the service do not charge for these.
The Enhanced 9-1-1 service is often paid for by a surcharge on monthly telephone bills.
How You Can Help Before the Ambulance Arrives
- ASSURE THE PATIENT that help is on the way.
- KEEP THE PHONE LINE CLEAR after the 911 call is made.
- DIRECT SOMEONE TO WAIT OUT FRONT to meet the ambulance and lead the way.
- WAVE A FLASHLIGHT or turn on flashers of a car or porch light if it's dark or visibility is poor.
- CONSIDER HAVING AN INTERPRETER if the patient does not speak English.
- SECURE PETS, especially dogs, in a separate area.
- HAVE A VISIBLE ADDRESS, easily readable from the street.
- GATHER OR MAKE A LIST OF MEDICATIONS that the patient is using and give to emergency personnel.
Start First Aid
- APPLY DIRECT PRESSURE TO THE WOUND if the victim is bleeding.
- PERFORM THE HEIMLICH MANEUVER if a choking victim can't breathe or talk.
- BEGIN CPR if the victim has no pulse and has stopped breathing.
Understanding what happens when a 911 call is placed will help the system run more efficiently and will bring you the emergency service you need in the shortest possible time.
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