Helpful Hints

Reminders

• Always listen to the communications specialist for guidance.
• The questions they ask are for the safety of the public and the responders.
• Just because they are questioning you does not mean that help is not on the way.
• Remain on the line until told to hang up. The communications specialist may need more information or to give you more instructions.

Do Not

Do not Program 9-1-1 into a memory location or speed-dial. Its the one number you will never forget, but when this number is in memory, we get accidental calls from people pushing down the wrong button.

Do not Call 9-1-1 and just hang up. Our policy on "hang-up" call is to call back and attempt to verify if there is an emergency. 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 tie up police officers that may be needed on other calls.