Making 911 Work Better

What You Can Do to Help Make 911 Work Better

• Post your house number clearly so that the emergency responders can find you more quickly.
• When calling 911 from a cell phone, use your complete street address in order for the 911 dispatcher to verify your location and for emergency responders to locate you. Do not use a post office box number or a rural route address for an emergency.
• If 911 is dialed by accident, stay on the line and advise the operator that the number has been dialed by mistake.
• Do not use 911 to play games - children frequently want to try 911 and see if it works, it works. False calls tie up the 911 lines and could prevent a genuine emergency call from getting through.
• Do not call for situations which are not time sensitive or which do not require the response of police, fire or emergency medical services.
• Do not call 911 to report inconveniences such as "no electricity" or plumbing problems, or to ask for weather or road condition reports or any other non-emergency information. 911 is an emergency service; it is not an information service.
• Do not allow children to play with old cell phones; oftentimes children call 911 accidentally, but repeatedly, tying up emergency lines.