FDL County Residents Encouraged to Sign Up for Smart 9-1-1 Service

Fond du Lac County Emergency Management officials continue
to encourage residents to sign up for Smart 9-1-1. The new technology was
introduced in April, and Fond du Lac County is currently the only county in the
state offering the service. County Communications and Emergency Management
Director Bobbi Hicken explains that with Smart 9-1-1 “you are able to put in
personal information about yourself that is tied to your phone number.” She
says “this can be your cell phone number, your work number, your home number,
whatever number you have. In the event that any of those numbers that you
program call 9-1-1, the information that you enter becomes immediately
available to the 9-1-1 dispatcher, and we share that with the responders.” Hicken
says that current 9-1-1 technology used by the county does not allow dispatchers
to pinpoint a caller’s location when they are inside a building. With the technology
used by Smart 9-1-1, dispatchers can pinpoint locations and see addresses of callers,
which will make for quicker response time to an emergency.

Hicken says some of the other information you can enter
into the Smart 9-1-1 database includes medical information, information about
your vehicle, and an emergency contact number for responders to call if they
can’t locate you. She adds that the county does not own the information you
submit to Smart 9-1-1, and that your information will not be sold or given to a
third party if and when you sign up. To sign up – visit smart911.com or download
the app in the Apple App Store or on Google Play.