Part III: In An Emergency, Be Prepared To Provide Information
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
If an emergency requires a call to 911, Kosciusko Communications Center Assistant Director Sarah Lancaster said there are ways the caller can be prepared to help the dispatchers assist them.
“They need to be aware of the location where the emergency is occurring. A lot of times we’ll have somebody call a family member and say, ‘I’m having chest pain.’ That family member in turn will then call us, so they’re not even at the scene. So we need the location of the emergency,” she said. “We’d like to know their breathing status if it’s a medical situation. We’d like to know if they’re able to respond to you, answer questions. We’d like to know their age. What is the problem?”
If it’s a situation like someone trying to break into a house, the dispatcher will ask a different series of questions than if it were a medical call. Those questions may include: Did they see someone trying to break in? Was a weapon displayed?
“So depending on what discipline we’re dealing with – police, fire, EMS – changes the type of questions we’ll ask,” Lancaster said. “Medical, we’re always going to ask if they’re conscious, breathing, age. We’re going to want to know the location of the emergency and a good call back number in case we get disconnected.”
When a person calls 911, Lancaster said the call does come in showing a phone number. But one accident may have multiple locations so dispatchers need to know from the caller where the accident is at. Dispatchers will ask how many vehicles are involved, are there any power lines down, if a semi was involved and was the semi carrying anything.
If someone calls in to dispatch and wants to talk to an officer, Lancaster said an officer may not be immediately available for them to speak with, so the dispatcher will get a name, number and a brief description about what’s going on.
“And we tell them, ‘We’ll have an officer call you back. It may come up private, restricted or unknown, so please be sure to answer it,’” Lancaster said. “That’s the one thing I wish I could stress – please answer when we call back.”
Dispatchers can walk callers through a variety of medical responses.
“We actually have what they call pre-arrival instructions. We have cards that will guide us through step by step what procedures to follow,” Lancaster said.
During second shift Oct. 6, dispatcher Rachel Eppenbaugh received a 911 call, but the caller immediately hung up.
“Our protocol is to immediately call back,” Eppenbaugh said.
The call hit near the railroad tracks behind the shopping center on Detroit Street, but no exact address.
“When a call first comes in, that’s phase one, it will hit on a tower. If we’re connected to a call long enough, it goes to phase two, a more pinpointed location. If it gets to phase two, it’s quite accurate,” Eppenbaugh explained.
The caller didn’t answer when Eppenbaugh called them, so she tried a text. The text showed up on the caller’s phone as 911 and she asked if the caller had an emergency.
She explained she can initiate a text from her post, which can be helpful if the person on the other line doesn’t want someone to know they’re seeking help.
Eppenbaugh recalled texting with a mom who thought her son was strung out, but the mom didn’t want him to know she was seeking an officer’s assistance. Eppenbaugh was able to have a conversation with the mother via text until the officer showed up without the son knowing anything about it.
If a person doesn’t speak English, dispatchers also have the ability to talk to the non-English speaking caller through a language service. Eppenbaugh has used it many times to talk to people in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.
She explained that when a non-English speaker calls 911, she pushes a button which contacts the language service. She tells them what language she needs and the service provides a translator to serve as a middleman between the dispatcher and caller.
To gather information and provide data to officers, dispatchers also use the Indiana Data and Communications System.
“It’s where we can run driver’s license, license plates, see if you have a valid gun permit, if a four wheeler is stolen. IDACS is statewide, so if you stole a vehicle in California, and you’re in Indiana, the officer is going to run it and it will pop up that it’s stolen,” Eppenbaugh said.
She said IDACS also can access a person’s arrest history.
Every call and radio transmission that comes through the dispatch center is recorded, she also noted. Officers, prosecutors and attorneys might then use that for court.
The more information a Kosciusko 911 Communications Center dispatcher has, the more data the dispatcher can pass on to the fire, police or EMS personnel responding to an emergency.
That’s where profiles on Smart911.com can help save a life.
Lancaster said, “Smart 911 is an Internet website where you can go in and register your phone number with you or anybody in that household. And in that profile that you create, you can advise of any type of medical history for anybody in that residence, if there’s any pets, hidden key locations, what utility companies you deal with. And this is free. It’s free to sign up.”
She said it’s another “wonderful” tool to help dispatchers paint a picture for emergency responders.
It’s up to the person making the profile how much information they want to include. They can add pictures of residents, house exteriors, pets or anything else that might assist emergency responders.
“Like with me, I have a severe allergy to aspirin. And on my profile, I have that noted because, let’s say that EMS showed up and I was unresponsive, and maybe I was having chest pain but I couldn’t talk, their protocol is to give baby aspirin. Well, that’s going to create a whole set of other problems for them to deal with along with my chest pain,” Lancaster said.
When anyone in that household dials 911 from a phone associated with their Safety Profile, their profile is immediately displayed to the 911 dispatcher, providing additional information that can be used to facilitate the proper response to the proper location.[[In-content Ad]]
If an emergency requires a call to 911, Kosciusko Communications Center Assistant Director Sarah Lancaster said there are ways the caller can be prepared to help the dispatchers assist them.
“They need to be aware of the location where the emergency is occurring. A lot of times we’ll have somebody call a family member and say, ‘I’m having chest pain.’ That family member in turn will then call us, so they’re not even at the scene. So we need the location of the emergency,” she said. “We’d like to know their breathing status if it’s a medical situation. We’d like to know if they’re able to respond to you, answer questions. We’d like to know their age. What is the problem?”
If it’s a situation like someone trying to break into a house, the dispatcher will ask a different series of questions than if it were a medical call. Those questions may include: Did they see someone trying to break in? Was a weapon displayed?
“So depending on what discipline we’re dealing with – police, fire, EMS – changes the type of questions we’ll ask,” Lancaster said. “Medical, we’re always going to ask if they’re conscious, breathing, age. We’re going to want to know the location of the emergency and a good call back number in case we get disconnected.”
When a person calls 911, Lancaster said the call does come in showing a phone number. But one accident may have multiple locations so dispatchers need to know from the caller where the accident is at. Dispatchers will ask how many vehicles are involved, are there any power lines down, if a semi was involved and was the semi carrying anything.
If someone calls in to dispatch and wants to talk to an officer, Lancaster said an officer may not be immediately available for them to speak with, so the dispatcher will get a name, number and a brief description about what’s going on.
“And we tell them, ‘We’ll have an officer call you back. It may come up private, restricted or unknown, so please be sure to answer it,’” Lancaster said. “That’s the one thing I wish I could stress – please answer when we call back.”
Dispatchers can walk callers through a variety of medical responses.
“We actually have what they call pre-arrival instructions. We have cards that will guide us through step by step what procedures to follow,” Lancaster said.
During second shift Oct. 6, dispatcher Rachel Eppenbaugh received a 911 call, but the caller immediately hung up.
“Our protocol is to immediately call back,” Eppenbaugh said.
The call hit near the railroad tracks behind the shopping center on Detroit Street, but no exact address.
“When a call first comes in, that’s phase one, it will hit on a tower. If we’re connected to a call long enough, it goes to phase two, a more pinpointed location. If it gets to phase two, it’s quite accurate,” Eppenbaugh explained.
The caller didn’t answer when Eppenbaugh called them, so she tried a text. The text showed up on the caller’s phone as 911 and she asked if the caller had an emergency.
She explained she can initiate a text from her post, which can be helpful if the person on the other line doesn’t want someone to know they’re seeking help.
Eppenbaugh recalled texting with a mom who thought her son was strung out, but the mom didn’t want him to know she was seeking an officer’s assistance. Eppenbaugh was able to have a conversation with the mother via text until the officer showed up without the son knowing anything about it.
If a person doesn’t speak English, dispatchers also have the ability to talk to the non-English speaking caller through a language service. Eppenbaugh has used it many times to talk to people in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.
She explained that when a non-English speaker calls 911, she pushes a button which contacts the language service. She tells them what language she needs and the service provides a translator to serve as a middleman between the dispatcher and caller.
To gather information and provide data to officers, dispatchers also use the Indiana Data and Communications System.
“It’s where we can run driver’s license, license plates, see if you have a valid gun permit, if a four wheeler is stolen. IDACS is statewide, so if you stole a vehicle in California, and you’re in Indiana, the officer is going to run it and it will pop up that it’s stolen,” Eppenbaugh said.
She said IDACS also can access a person’s arrest history.
Every call and radio transmission that comes through the dispatch center is recorded, she also noted. Officers, prosecutors and attorneys might then use that for court.
The more information a Kosciusko 911 Communications Center dispatcher has, the more data the dispatcher can pass on to the fire, police or EMS personnel responding to an emergency.
That’s where profiles on Smart911.com can help save a life.
Lancaster said, “Smart 911 is an Internet website where you can go in and register your phone number with you or anybody in that household. And in that profile that you create, you can advise of any type of medical history for anybody in that residence, if there’s any pets, hidden key locations, what utility companies you deal with. And this is free. It’s free to sign up.”
She said it’s another “wonderful” tool to help dispatchers paint a picture for emergency responders.
It’s up to the person making the profile how much information they want to include. They can add pictures of residents, house exteriors, pets or anything else that might assist emergency responders.
“Like with me, I have a severe allergy to aspirin. And on my profile, I have that noted because, let’s say that EMS showed up and I was unresponsive, and maybe I was having chest pain but I couldn’t talk, their protocol is to give baby aspirin. Well, that’s going to create a whole set of other problems for them to deal with along with my chest pain,” Lancaster said.
When anyone in that household dials 911 from a phone associated with their Safety Profile, their profile is immediately displayed to the 911 dispatcher, providing additional information that can be used to facilitate the proper response to the proper location.[[In-content Ad]]
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