Mill Creek Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the Mill Creek Police offer a way to align with that theme.

Residents can prepare a Smart911 profile that voluntarily offers specific health information for police officers, through an emergency response program in the City. The nationwide service is free, said Corporal Ian Durkee of the Mill Creek Police Department.

When a resident with a profile calls 911, their Safety Profiles show dispatchers the address, mental health and medical information, photos, emergency contacts and other information to help first-responders prepare for the call, he said.

The Mill Creek Police Department encourages residents to create a Smart911 Public Safety Profile during Mental Health Awareness Month. The profiles help improve the interactions between police officers and people with information about medication and mental health issues that could affect behavior. It also gives emergency contacts, so someone who trusts the person with that profile can be contacted, to help remedy whatever prompted a 911 call.

When police are responding to an emergency call, "additional information about you and your family members gives our police officers important details that will help us provide the best possible service," Durkee said.

Smart911 is private and secure, and information is only made available to the 911 system in the event of an emergency call. Residents are in complete control of their Safety Profile and can choose what information they want to share with 911.

The Mill Creek Police Department is using Rave Mobile Safety's Rave 911 Suite and Smart911 in collaboration with Snohomish County 911 to meet the needs of disabled and vulnerable residents. Mill Creek Police can already access that information through Rave 911 Suite and Smart911.

Washington's Travis Alert Act requirements and provide the best emergency response to all residents of Mill Creek.

Signed into law in 2017, the Travis Alert Act directed the state to create a first responder training program on the techniques and protocols for handling emergencies involving residents with disabilities. The Travis Alert Act also includes an assessment for improving the Enhanced 911 program so that first responders know about an individual's disability or special need before they arrive at an emergency.

With the Rave 911 Suite, 9-1-1 call centers also have access to call notes, caller location and chat functionality – all of which help City of Mill Creek first responders provide better informed responses to residents. Additionally, Snohomish County 911 has a first-of-its-kind interface for information-sharing that makes it easier to seamlessly access Smart911 profiles in the moment to dispatch the first responders best suited to respond to each emergency.

"Providing the best emergency response to the communities we serve is a collaborative effort, and we are proud to be working closely with public safety agencies in and around Snohomish County," said Andie Burton, Director of Operations, Snohomish County 911. "Leveraging technology like Smart911 and our first-of-its-kind interface gives our first responders the best chance to arrive on scene with more background knowledge than ever before."

The smart911 website says one problem it solves is that 80% of today's 911 calls are made from cell phones, making it difficult to even find someone if they are unable to communicate.

To create a Smart911 free profile for yourself and your family, visit http://www.smart911.com.