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Friday, March 8, 2013

Smart911

Remember when I almost choked to death in front of my kids? Yeah, fun times. Well, since then, I think a lot more about what we would do in an emergency and how I can make sure the girls are protected.

Yes, I installed a blaringly red and huge 9-1-1 button on my phone and taught the girls how to use it. But in a high stress situation, will they be able to get out a coherent message at four years old? Maybe not.

And I know 9-1-1 has tracking now, so that hopefully they'd find the right place. But what if it wasn't an emergency where the girls had any control?

What if someone broke in and I could call the number but not talk? What if there was a fire and everything was too hectic for descriptions and whatnot? Any number of things could happen in which emergency responders having my family's information at their fingertips could be very helpful.

So I signed up for Smart911.

Here's the blurb from their website:

Smart911 is a free service that allows citizens across the U.S. to create a Safety Profile for their household that includes any information they want 9-1-1 to have in the event of an emergency. Then, when anyone in that household dials 9-1-1 from a phone associated with their Safety Profile, their profile is immediately displayed to the 9-1-1 call taker providing additional information that can be used to facilitate the proper response to the proper location. At a time when seconds count, being about to provide 9-1-1 with all details that could impact response the second an emergency call is placed could be the difference between life and death.

Now, I admit, I felt a little squidgy posting that personal information up. But the site is secure, and honestly, all the internet cookies and sales trackers know everything about me anyway. It's not like I'm giving anyone anything new. I just put it all in one place. Privacy on the internet isn't really a thing that exists unless you work really, really hard at it. Like harder than you think you're working (I learned this in my mass comm classes).

Anyway, you might want to check into it for your family. Anything to help, right?

Smart911 info here.


 

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