911

911 was Originally Posted on July 17, 2012 by lavarock

I have been thinking about 911. Here in my part of Hawaii a street address does not mean much. My house is 2800 feet from the mailbox, down a road and down a 4-wheel drive driveway. It would be faster for a firetruck t ogo to my neighbors house a run a hose across the property line, then drive down here.

I also have water catchment tanks and one is near the house and could be used by a pumper.

I wondered if I should stop by the fire department (and police department) and leave specific instructions on how to find me.

Now many places are installing a Smart911 system whereby extra information comes up on the screen of the dispatcher when you call. You can supply information about the number of children in the house, specific medical conditions and so on. The information would not be searchable by dispatchers and would only show up on their screens for 45 minutes.

The citizen has the option of including the information or not. Although not available everywhere, if you are interested, go to http://smart911.com and read about it.