The Smart911 emergency database and Nixle weather systems are gaining ground in the Twin Lakes Area as more people sign up for the free services. The applications are proving their effectiveness in emergency and severe weather situations according to Shannon Chapman, Coordinator for the Emergency Enhanced 911 Operations Center located in Mountain Home.
Smart911 lets a person, who signs up, add key information about household members which can help emergency responders in the event of an emergency call from home or a mobile device. Chapman says roughly 500 people in Baxter County have signed up for the service and more continue to sign up as it becomes more popular. The process is simple and the information given could prove useful.
Listen: right-click to download mp3
All information given is voluntary and can help emergency personnel determine if additional assistance is needed with existing medical conditions for example.
Listen: right-click to download mp3
The feature allows a person to be able to text back and forth to a dispatcher. It came in handy recently when a pair of dispatchers, Kim Bowman and Jaime Hohn, used texting to respond to a possible suicide attempt. They were given the Rave SmartSave Award for their dedication and excellence while responding to the citizen emergency.
The Nixle weather alert system is also a free service where users are notified, by the National Weather Service, of severe weather. Chapman says the system has been improved and the County is looking for more people to sign up.
Listen: right-click to download mp3
Nixle was implemented in the beginning of January 2016.
Arkansas was the first state to deploy the Smart911 system, and it is utilized by all 108 of the state’s primary 911 centers in addition to the Rave Panic Button in all of Arkansas’s public schools
The Baxter County 911 Operations Center is encouraging residents to create a free safety profile with Smart911 by going to https://safety.smart911.com/#smart911. All information is kept private and secure, and only becomes available to emergency responders when 911 is dialed.
To sign up to the Nixle weather alerts go to https://local.nixle.com/zipcode/72653/ or text the zip code in your area to 888777.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI