For Immediate Release

Friday, April 12, 2019

Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: ben@jgpr.net

Taunton Police and Fire Departments Offer Helpful Guidelines During National 911 Education Month

TAUNTON — April is National 911 Education Month. Taunton Police Chief Edward Walsh and Fire Chief Timothy Bradshaw would like to ensure residents are prepared and able to access help during emergencies.

Around 240 million 911 calls are made in the U.S. each year. Public safety agencies around the country use 911 Education Month to conduct outreach to educate community members on 911 resources and best practices.

To ensure your family knows how to get help in an emergency, Chief Bradshaw and Chief Walsh recommend following safety tips provided by the National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA):

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, including Taunton. 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 911 provide location information, but 911 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 to the 9-1-1 call taker. Even if you accidentally call 9-1-1, don’t hang up. Inform the call taker that you dialed accidentally and that there is no emergency.

NASNA works 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. Additional 9-1-1 education materials are available at www.know911.org.

ABOUT NATIONAL 911 MONTH

In 2008, the United States Congress recognized April as National 9-1-1 Education Month, supporting the efforts of the National 9-1-1 Education Coalition to provide resources and materials to support public education about the optimal use of 911 services nationwide. (Know911.org)

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Source: nena.org