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TextHealth and Safety Podcast Transcript: April 21, 2010
Hello, and welcome to the Fairfax County Health and Safety Podcast for April 21, 2010. I’m Jim Person, Fairfax County emergency information officer. Coming up, get tips for calling 9-1-1, learn how to become involved in your community and ways to stay informed from the Police Department. Links to topics mentioned in this podcast can be found online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov.
April is National 9-1-1 Education Month.
Sooner or later it could happen to you. An emergency will occur, and you'll need an ambulance, fire equipment or a police officer. How do you contact the right person? Don’t waste precious seconds. Dial 9-1-1 from the nearest telephone.
You will get a much quicker response to your emergency needs by dialing – for both voice and TTY – 9-1-1, than by calling your local fire or police station. Please remember, though, 9-1-1 is only for emergencies. For non-emergency situations in Fairfax County, dial 703-691-2131.
When your call is received, highly trained personnel are ready to respond with assistance and get you the help you need. When you call 9-1-1, remember these simple guidelines:
- Stay calm - dispatchers can't help you if they can't understand you. Take a deep breath and think before you talk. Speak slowly and clearly.
- State the nature of the emergency and the exact address where the help is needed. Stay on the line to answer further questions the dispatcher may have.
- Send someone to meet the emergency equipment if at all possible. It's hard to find an address on a dimly lit street in the middle of the night.
For more information, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/911.
During National Volunteer Week, April 18-24, take a moment to think about additional ways that you can give back to the community. Fairfax County Citizen Corps programs offer many volunteer opportunities that directly impact the community’s preparedness, response and recovery capabilities from an emergency or disaster. Volunteers from the Citizen Corps Council, such as the Community Emergency Response Team and the Medical Reserve Corps, have had a direct impact in recent responses to H1N1 and the Winter Storm of 2010. Organizations are always seeking additional volunteers to assist in outreach and training efforts. If you are interested visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/oem/citizencorps for additional information and volunteering opportunities. You also may call the Office of Emergency Management at 571-350-1000.
The Fairfax County Police Department has started a Facebook Fan page. The department encourages the public to help keep families and neighborhoods safer by staying informed and aware. There is no cost to join; to become a police department fan, sign up at www.facebook.com/fairfaxcountypolice.
There is also a new police emergency alert category within the county’s Community Emergency Alert Network. With this new group the police can send geographically targeted alerts, to include timely information on significant criminal incidents in neighborhoods and important announcements. There is no cost to sign up to receive the alerts at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/cean. New users may register using several addresses, such as their home, work, child’s school or others. Existing users may sign up for police alerts by editing their current profiles.
For more information, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police.
That’s it for this edition of the Fairfax County Health and Safety Podcast, produced by the Fairfax County, Virginia government. Thanks for listening. Additional information about health and safety topics and emergency preparedness may be found online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov. And remember, if you have a police, fire or medical emergency, call 9-1-1. For non-emergency needs, call 703-691-2131.
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