Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Andy Skoogman, 612-919-5918
Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Enhances 9-1-1 Services and Emergency Notification System
Officials Encourage Residents to Sign up NOW for Free Service
August 24, 2022 (Minneapolis, MN) - The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) today announced it has enhanced its 911 Services and Emergency Notification System with the implementation of Smart911. Smart911 allows 911 dispatchers to collect more information during an emergency call compared to a traditional 911 call. That additional information will save first responders precious time and has already proven to save lives in other counties and cities that have implemented the system, according to Tony Martin, Emergency Communications Director for the HCSO.
“The additional information provided in a Smart911 Safety Profile enables us to know exactly where we are going and who we are looking for,” Martin said. “The information will also give first responders more context to what are often complex, dynamic events, such as a house fire, vehicle accident, report of a missing child, or a medical emergency. The additional details will help first responders act faster and more efficiently in situations where every second matters.”
Smart911 is free to residents and allows individuals to create a Safety Profile for their household at www.smart911.com or on the Smart911 App. When a resident makes an emergency call, his or her Safety Profile is automatically displayed to the 9-1-1 call taker. This allows the call takers to send the right response teams to the right location with more background information than before.
All information is optional, and residents can choose what details they’d would like to include. The profiles can be updated or edited by the user at any time. One of the most important features of Smart911 is the ability for individuals to link their home and work addresses to cellular phone numbers.
"The benefits of this information on a 9-1-1 call from a cell phone are immeasurable”, said Martin, “Cell phones do not provide an address to the 9-1-1 call taker and those are 76% of our 9-1-1 calls. These emergency situations are often the worst day of a person's life, and the Safety Profile can speak for someone when he or she might be unable to. “You don’t know when you’ll need to call 9-1-1, or what condition you’ll be in when you make the call, so prepare yourself before you need to call.”
Smart911 is now available for communities that receive 9-1-1 and dispatch services from the HCSO. Martin says the HCSO is encouraging anyone who resides, works, or travels through Hennepin County to sign up for Smart911 today.
Smart911 is private and secure, is only used for emergency responses, and only made available to the 9-1-1 system in the event of an emergency call. The Smart911 app provides greater access to the lifesaving benefits of Smart911 and targeted location-based alerts to all individuals. The Smart911 App is available on the Apple Store or Google Play.
Smart911 is currently available in 40 states and more than 1,500 municipalities across the country and has been credited with positively impacting emergency outcomes including a missing child in which the girl’s photo and physical description were immediately available to responders, as well as a heart attack victim where an address and medical notes allowed responders to be dispatched to his location quickly.
– HCSO–
Look for more news on
the Hennepin County Sheriff's website at http://www.hennepinsheriff.org.
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