National 9-1-1 Education Month Prepares Americans for Emergencies

April 2, 2018 by Spencer Bridges

Kalamazoo, MI: This April 1st -30th, national public safety organizations will conduct outreach to the community to ensure the public is ready to access help during emergencies during National 9-1-1 Education Month.

The National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA) is the voice of the states on public policy issues impacting 911. State 911 leaders’ expertise can assist industry associations, public policy makers, the private sector, educators, and emergency communications professionals at all levels of government as they address complex issues surrounding the evolution of emergency communications. NASNA is committed to collecting and promoting 9-1-1 public education materials at www.know911.org. A variety of resources are available to support both the “9-1-1: The Number to Know” campaign and education themes including:

Call If You Can, Text If You Can’t: Text-to-9-1-1 service is available in an increasing number of communities around the country. The service benefits individuals (or persons) who are deaf, hard of hearing or in a situation where they cannot speak and make a voice call. However, a traditional voice call, if possible, is still the best way to reach emergency services.

Know Your Location: Wireless calls to 9-1-1 provide location information, but 9-1-1 call takers may need more specific information. Be prepared to provide detailed information on where you are so that help can get to you as quickly as possible.

Stay Calm and Don’t Hang Up: Until you are instructed to do otherwise, stay on the line so you can provide any necessary information or assistance to the 9-1-1 call taker. Even if you accidently call 9-1-1, don’t hang up. Inform the call taker that you dialed accidently and that there is no emergency.

The resources available at www.know911.org help educators, government officials, media representatives, and concerned citizens alike promote ongoing, age appropriate 9-1-1 education that can save lives.

A vision of NASNA is to save lives and improve emergency response by supporting a national 9-1-1 education and awareness effort to ensure the appropriate and responsible use of 9-1-1 resources and embraces contemporary communications opportunities.

By authority of: Sgt. L. McMillon

Date: April 2, 2018
Address: 150 E. Crosstown Pkwy., Suite A, Kalamazoo, MI 49001
Contact: Sgt. L. McMillon

Kalamazoo County Enhances 9-1-1 Services with Smart911

October 16, 2017 by Spencer Bridges

Public Safety Officials Encourage Residents to Sign Up For the Free Service That Provides Emergency Responders with More Information in the Event of an Emergency

Kalamazoo, MI – Public safety officials in Kalamazoo County announced today that Smart911 is now available to all individuals in Kalamazoo County. Smart911 is a free service that allows individuals and families to sign up online to provide key information to 9-1-1 call takers during an emergency.

Smart911 allows citizens to create a Safety Profile at www.smart911.com for their household 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.

With Smart911, citizens can link both home and work addresses to mobile phones, which can be passed on to responders in the field for more a detailed, rapid response. Additional information including pets in the home, vehicle details in the event of an accident, medical conditions 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.

Smart911 is currently available in 40 states and more than 1,500 municipalities across the country. Once entered, your Smart911 profile travels with you and is available to all jurisdictions utilizing Smart911.

Smart911 has been credited with positively impacting emergency outcomes including a missing child where 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.

Citizens 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 is only made available to the 9-1-1 system in the event of an emergency call.

By authority of: Sheriff Richard Fuller, Chief Nick Armold, Chief Jeffrey Hadley and Chief Timothy Bourgeois

Date: October 16, 2017
Address: 150 E. Crosstown Parkway, Kalamazoo, MI 49001

9-1-1 Equipment Upgrade

October 3, 2017 by Spencer Bridges

**UPDATE, 10/4/2017 **

The equipment upgrade within the Kalamazoo Integrated Dispatch Center has been completed and all systems are back up and running. Emergency and non-emergency services will resume as normal.

Contractors for the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office and the Kalamazoo Township Police Department will be performing an equipment upgrade in the Integrated Dispatch Center at 150 E Crosstown Parkway on Wednesday, October 4th from approximately 4:00 am until 7:00 am.

911 services will continue to be operational during this time-period. If a citizen needs to contact the Dispatch Center for a non-emergency matter during this time and does not receive an answer, they should call:

Kalamazoo Public Safety: (269) 567-7561
Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office: (269) 567-7574
Kalamazoo Township Police: (269) 567-7575

A second news release will follow once the systems are back in full operation.

By authority of: Sheriff Richard Fuller, Chief Jeffrey Hadley and Chief Timothy Bourgeois

Date: October 3rd, 2017
Address: 150 E. Crosstown Parkway, Kalamazoo, MI 49001
Contact: Chief Jeff Hadley, 269-337-8123

911 service upgrade

March 20, 2017 by Spencer Bridges

Contractors for the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office and the Kalamazoo Township Police Department will be performing an equipment upgrade in the Integrated Dispatch Center at 150 E Crosstown Parkway on Wednesday, March 22nd at approximately 4:00 am and Thursday, March 23rd at 4:00am. It is estimated that the upgrades will take approximately 1 hour each.

911 services will continue to be operational during this time-period. If a citizen needs to contact the Center for a non-emergency matter during this time and does not receive an answer, they should call:

Kalamazoo Public Safety: (269) 337-8120
Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office: (269) 384-2036 -or- (269) 384-2037 -or- (269) 384-2038
Kalamazoo Township Police: (269) 337-8931

A second news release will follow once the systems are back in full operation.

By authority of: Sheriff Richard Fuller, Chief Jeffrey Hadley and Chief Timothy Bourgeois
Date: March 20, 2017
Address: 150 E. Crosstown Parkway, Kalamazoo, MI 49001