Maine

When should you call 911?

• Calls to 911 should be reserved for emergencies such as:

•  A serious medical emergency (chest pains, seizures, bleeding, etc.)

•  Any type of fire (structure, vehicle, brush, etc.)

•  Any crime in-progress (robbery, burglary, prowler, fights, etc.)

•  Any other life threatening situations (traffic accident with injuries, etc.)

What happens when you call 911?

In order to correctly assess the situation for a prioritized response, you will be asked certain questions which are vital to the safety of the caller and the responding Police, Fire or EMS units.

The Location -
When you call 911, the Dispatcher is automatically provided with the phone number and the location that you are calling from. You will be asked to verify this information since quite often individuals call 911 from locations other than where the incident is occurring. If you call 911 from a cell phone, this vital information is not provided. It is very important that you provide the phone number and location to the Dispatcher  when using a cell phone.

The Problem -
The Dispatcher  will ask if your emergency is related to Police, Fire/Rescue or Emergency Medical Service. At this point you should give a quick description of what occurred. Then you will be asked a series of questions which are extremely important to the proper handling of the call. These may include:

• Is anyone injured?

• How long ago did the incident occur?

• Were there weapons involved and if so, what type?

• Did the suspect flee, and if so, which direction?

• What was the mode of transportation, a car, bike or on foot?

•  If a vehicle was involved, what was the description and what was the direction of travel?

• What was the physical description of the suspect?

  What was the clothing description?

Although these may seem like an unreasonable number of questions during an emergency, they are very important to emergency personnel. For example, if a burglary has just occurred and the suspect flees, the officers have a much better chance of apprehending the suspect if they have a good description of the suspect and the direction that was taken. More important, if the incident in question involved a weapon, the life of the Officer may depend on the information given.

One common misconception of Public Safety Communications is that Dispatchers wait until finishing the call before sending help. During a true emergency, the Dispatchers work as a team. One remains on the line with the caller and passes on information to another Dispatcher who dispatches Police Officers, Firefighters or other emergency personnel.

It is very important that you stay on the line during a call to 911 unless your life is threatened by doing so. The Dispatcher will continue to ask you questions while the Emergency Units are en route.

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DO

• DO use 9-1-1 for the emergency dispatch of police, fire, or medical equipment.

• DO try to remain calm. Talk slowly, and in a clear and concise voice. The dispatcher may ask you to repeat yourself, or repeat back what you just said. Don't become annoyed. This is done to verify with you that the dispatcher has the correct information.

• DO use a payphone to report emergencies including accidents, crimes in progress, or crimes just occurring. (The 9-1-1 call is FREE.)

• DO teach your children or grandchildren how to use 9-1-1 wisely in case of an emergency…If a parent or relative is sick or unconscious, if a child is lost and can find a phone or pay phone, if a molester or suspicious person is bothering the child or friends, or if your child or another child is injured.

• DO let the call-taker ask you questions. They have been trained to ask specific questions that will help prioritize the incident and send the appropriate agencies to assist.

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DON'T

• DON’T hang up when you dial 9-1-1 in an emergency; our dispatchers will need information from you in order to send the appropriate help.

• DON’T hang up when you dial 9-1-1 accidentally, please stay on the line and let the dispatcher know that it was an accidental call. The 911 dispatcher is required to follow up on all 911 calls and verify the existence of an emergency. If we are unable to communicate with someone at the residence, we will dispatch police to check on the status.

• DON’T call 9-1-1 to ask when power will be restored during an outage, how the road conditions are, or whether schools are open.  Contact your utility company or monitor local radio and television of road, weather, and school information.

• DON’T let your cordless battery run down away from the charger.  Some cordless phones send out a false 9-1-1 signal when they are discharged.

• DON'T dial 911 to play or test the system. It is a violation of the law that is punishable by fine or imprisonment.