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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Especially important to people with disabilities : Smart911 now active in DuPage County Illinois June 2011

Chicago Sun Times/Naperville Sun : By Louise Brass : June 28, 2011

Members of the public can now have all the critical personal information that they care to give, listed in a Smart911 system database, newly installed by the Emergency Telephone System Board of DuPage County.

The data, which can be easily updated including photos, medical information, allergies, pets and even caregiver contact information, is made available to any 911 system in the nation that utilizes the same program, when a person listed calls 911 in a participating area.

Joining the program is free. Whole families can be listed in the database.

In an emergency, their information will come up on the screen for the 911 operators to pass on to police, fire or ambulance crews. Some squad cars are already equipped to have immediate access to the online information, when a 911 call comes in from a victim.

The additional data provided is far more extensive than what is typically available to 911 dispatchers, and helps to improve results when rendering aid to 911 callers, according to ETSB Chairman Patrick O’Shea.

A mobile caller’s location can typically only be pinpointed within 200-300 meters (two or three football fields). With Smart911 their exact location is made instantly available.

Usually, Amber Alerts can’t be issued until a photo is received by first responders. That wastes valuable minutes. Smart911 quickens Amber Alert delivery by instantly providing photos.

“Smart911 strengthens and expands our current 911 service by providing us with critical information about callers, while enhancing our ability to locate and communicate with them. This will help us provide more information to 911 call-takers, as well as first responders before they arrive on the scene,” O’Shea said.

The communities of Naperville and Burr Ridge have their own 911 programs, said Linda Zerwin, executive director of ETSB. However, participants do not even have to be living in DuPage to add their information into the Smart911 system.

A little or a lot of details can be given. The system will be especially important to people with disabilities, the elderly in poor health, and children with autism, she said.

Since beginning the program a month ago, 95 persons have entered vital details, and some even have given details of their house layouts, their vehicles and their medical information in case of an emergency or disaster. Emergency responders can then have the important details right at their fingertips.

“It’s an enhancement to the enhanced 911. But you have to remember, even in Illinois, not everyone has enhanced 911,” Zerwin said.

DuPage County, with a population of almost 1 million, is the first in Illinois to use the system, she said. “We are very proud to be first in the state to do this and we are very proud to be really in compliance with what the funding will allow.”

Funding for 911 services already is being collected on cell phone and landline bills. Landline phone owners are charged 50 cents per month. Cell/wireless phone users are charged 75 cents monthly for all 911 services.

The computerized system costs $145,000 annually, and is managed by Rave Mobile Safety. The software provider is based in Boston, and the data is stored in three different locations. More information on the project, which is advertised as 100 percent secure, can be accessed at www.ravemobilesafety.com.

The system is expected to be vital to rescuers in cases of kidnapping, traffic or other vehicular accident, or a natural disaster such as a tornado.

It is estimated that the DuPage 911 center receives about 960,000 emergency calls annually. Approximately 650,000 of these calls come from wireless devices.

Often, dozens of calls come in to report just one accident. Persons injured can be helped much faster if their vital information is stored in the Smart911, said Zerwin, during a press tour of the facility Tuesday.

She said, when the program was first announced, some members of the public expressed concerns about privacy. However, the board had the program reviewed by the Illinois Attorney General’s office for compliance with privacy laws, she said.

No increase in employee numbers were needed to staff the program, which stays basically in the background until an emergency happens to a listed participant. When that participant calls 911, their information is made immediately available.

This is a big improvement to the old I-Search paper method of listing, and updating photos of children, and other details of families and individuals for police to use in case of emergencies, Zerwin said. “This is an updated version of that,” she said.

The number of emergency communication centers across the nation is rapidly growing, according to Todd Piett, chief product officer at Rave Mobile Safety.

“The DuPage ETSB team is exceptional, and we look forward to working with them,” Piett said.

O’Shea strongly encourages those who live, work or visit DuPage County to register cell phones or landline phones for the free service, by visiting the website, www.smart911.com.

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