Last month, the Southold Town Police Department began urging members of the community to create a free Smart911 personal profile that allows individuals to provide 911 operators additional details in real time that might assist them in an emergency.
The free service reflects Americans’ switch to cell phones from landlines.
“When you call 911 from your cell phone, quite often, we don’t receive any information other than the phone number. It’s just the carrier, and there’s no information,” Southold Town Police Chief Steve Grattan said in an interview this week.
Yet with a Smart911 profile, users can put as much or as little information about themselves and their living situations as desired. Some people will simply list the names of the occupants in the event of a fire. Older people might want to upload their medical history, or a list of their prescriptions and any other medical information that might assist a first responder.
Homeowners can add any pets or service animals in the home, list emergency contacts, and even the make, model and license plate of their vehicles. Individuals with special needs or those prone to psychiatric emergencies could list so in their profiles.
Riverhead Police Captain Danielle Willsey said this week that the department has been promoting Smart911 technology for years, but that most Smart911 calls the department receives come from commercial businesses with registered profiles.
The Smart911 system “also includes a facility profile, so when a business calls, we get a lot more information.”
“If they have a key lock box, it lists where it is. Sometimes they upload plans to the building on there, plus contact information.”
Police can’t access Smart911 profile unless a user calls 911, she said, so it’s hard to tell how many residents have created profiles.
“We haven’t seen it a lot with the public, and it may just be awareness, or it may just be that people who have signed up to be proactive have not had to call 911.”
She urged anyone with interest to create their own profile. The system also offers an app so a person in an emergency can livestream video or send pictures to authorities as well.
“We would recommend everybody doing it,” she said this week. “You never know when you’re going to be in an emergency situation and call from your house.”
She said it can be particularly helpful for seniors.
“Many of them live alone, and maybe they can’t remember the medications they take. We would have that list right in front of us. It’s totally up to the person. You do not have to fill in every spot. You can give whatever information you want to put in there.”
Mr. Grattan, who set up his own profile for his family home, said that it’s safe to share personal information for emergency purposes only.
“I know there’s people that are a little bit leery about Big Brother, but we don’t have any access to any of that information unless you dial 911. That’s the only way we can see that information,” said Mr. Grattan.
In a life-or-death emergency, the chief said, “time is of the essence.”
He added, “So any information that’s provided to us that’s beneficial to responding emergency personnel, whether it’s EMS, medics, police or fire, we’ll have all that information the moment the cell phone calls 911.”
A review of months of Southold Town police incident reports show that officers respond to 911 “hang-up” calls — nearly all of them accidental dials — at least several times every week. Mr. Grattan said Southold police are required to respond in person to every 911 call.
“Even if that person calls back and says, ‘I’m sorry that was an accident,’ we’re still showing up.”
At a recent Cutchogue Civic Association meeting, Southold Police Sgt. Bob Haase urged the community to give Smart911 a try. A Feb. 26 post about Smart911 on Southold Town Police Facebook page has garnered more shares than any other post to date, Mr. Grattan said.
Cincinnati, Ohio, adopted Smart911 in 2018, following the death of a teenager who was asphyxiated when he got stuck between the seats of a minivan and died before first responders could locate him. At the time, according to NBC News, Smart911 was being used at 500 dispatch hubs nationwide.
It’s not clear how widespread Smart911 is being used in the U.S. today. Spokesperson for parent company, Motorola subsidiary Rave Mobile Safety, did not respond to calls and emails requesting user data.