WHAT TO KNOW and WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU CALL 911...

TAKE A DEEP BREATH. Try to stay calm. Being upset or worried, especially when its your family or friends, is completely understandable. We know that calling 911 can be nerve-wracking. We need to be able to ask you questions and get clear answers.

WHERE ---The most important thing to know is a LOCATION. If you are not familiar with where you are, look for a business or a street address. The name of a store, restaurant or other business is helpful! But if you know you're on Maple near Bailey and are in front of Tops, that helps. If you are on a residential street and can see house numbers or mailbox, we can use that address. If we get disconnected or the call drops, we can still start help until we back in contact with you.

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, HOW are vital to getting help to a scene or incident. Next is to know what's going on. We have multiple levels of response, so even the smallest of details matter. When we ask questions, we need as many specific answers as you can give.

WHO: male or female? approximate age if you do not know or cannot ask. Number of people injured or involved is important too!
WHAT: what is going on? someone took a fall? someone has an injury? is there a car accident? is there a fire? is someone sick?
WHEN: did this just happen now?
HOW: what happened? was a person was crossing the street and fell? did a person try to move something and it fell on them? did two cars collided on Main St? is the house/garage/shed on fire? a child fell off the monkey bars?

While we understand that you may have not witnessed the incident you are reporting, however, PRECISE AND CLEAR information helps us immensely!