Lexington, SC 06/16/2021 - Emergency Service officials in Lexington County have announced that Smart911 is now available to all individuals. Smart911 is a free service that allows individuals and families to sign up online to provide key information to County 9-1-1 call takers during an emergency.
“Smart911saves critical time in an emergency and has proven to save lives nationwide,” said David Kerr, Director of Lexington County’s Department of Emergency Services, “The additional information provided in a Smart911 Safety Profile enables emergency responders to know exactly where they are going and who they are looking for when they arrive at the scene of the emergency, those details can help responders arrive more quickly and perform their duties more safely.”
Smart911 allows individuals to create a Safety Profile for their household at www.smart911.com or on the Smart911 App that includes any information they want 9-1-1 and response teams to have in the event of an emergency. When a citizen makes an emergency call, their Safety Profile is automatically displayed to the 9-1-1 call taker, allowing them to send the right response teams to the right location with the right information.
The Smart911 app provides greater access to the lifesaving benefits of Smart911 and targeted location-based alerts to all individuals. The Smart911 App is available on the Apple Store or Google Play.
“Individuals who create a Safety Profile will be better prepared when traveling through towns and counties across the country that support Smart911,” said Director Kerr, “The Safety Profile travels with you and the additional information provides for the right response faster.”
With Smart911, individuals can link both homes and work addresses to mobile phones, which can be passed on to responders in the field for a more detailed, rapid response. Additional information including pets in the home, vehicle details in the event of an accident, and even emergency contacts can all be included in a Safety Profile. All information is optional, and the citizen has the ability to choose what details they would like to include.
“The benefits of this information on a 9-1-1 call from a cell phone are immeasurable”, said Director Kerr, “Mobile phones do not provide an address to the 9-1-1 call taker. These emergency situations are often the worst of a person's life, and the Safety Profile can speak for you when you might not be able to.”
Smart911 is currently available in 40 states and more than 1,500 municipalities across the country, and has been credited with positively impacting emergency outcomes including a missing child in which the girl’s photo and physical description were immediately available to 9-1-1 and responders, as well as a heart attack victim where an address and medical notes allowed responders to be dispatched to his location quickly.
Individuals are encouraged to create their Safety Profile with Smart911 today to have their information immediately available to 9-1-1 and to receive emergency notifications. Smart911 is private and secure, is only used for emergency responses, and only made available to the 9-1-1 system in the event of an emergency call.
