Would you know what to do if you or someone you love suffered a medical emergency? According to Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, a new safety system in Louisville could help save your life or that of a loved one, and residents are being encouraged to sign up now for Smart911.
Smart911 is a new safety feature of the Louisville Emergency Notification System (LENSAlert), an emergency notification alert system in Jefferson, Bullitt, Oldham, and Washington counties in Kentucky. The LENSAlert system sends emergency notification alerts to registered accounts via multiple communication systems such as cell phones, landlines, and social media, among other platforms, to notify people of impending disasters and emergencies.
Smart911 is the newest safety feature in the regional LENSAlert emergency alert notification system. Smart911 is a nationwide database of medical and personal information voluntarily provided to 911 operators to help improve responses to emergencies. The safety technology is now available in Louisville and local leaders are encouraging residents to sign up for the enhanced safety system.
Residents can create a private online Safety Profile for themselves and members of their household. The goal of Smart911 is two-fold: to reduce emergency response time, and provide critical medical and health information to emergency responders to improve your odds of surviving an emergency. Safety Profiles are especially important during the stress of an emergency when you may forget to share crucial details, or be unable to communicate at all.
Smart911 works this way: when a 911 call is made from a registered phone number, the medical and personal information previously provided in your Safety Profile is displayed to a 911 operator who can share critical information with emergency responders “allowing them to send the right responders to the right location with the right information.”
Registering for Smart911 is completely voluntary, costs you nothing but a few minutes of your time, and you get to choose just how much and what kind of information to provide. Your online profile may include:
You can change, add, or delete any information to your profile, and it’s your responsibility to keep your information current so emergency responders don’t go to wrong address, or have the wrong medical information. Your Safety Profile never expires but it is recommended you check your information every 6 months to ensure it is up to date and accurate.
Privacy concerns are legitimate and developers assure online users their private information is safe because 911 operators cannot access Safety Profiles unless a 911 call is made from a registered phone number.
To begin receiving emergency alert notifications from the LENSAlert system via smartphone, text “LENSAlert” to 67283, or go to https://www.smart911.com/smart911/registration/registrationLanding.action to create your online Smart911 Safety Profile.