"LUZERNE COUNTY 911 WHAT IS YOUR EMERGENCY?"…

Luzerne County 911 has been in service since June of 1998. Since that time, our dedicated professionals have saved the lives and property of so many people by getting the responders to the location of the incident. To maintain our high standard, we are asking the residents of Luzerne County to please take a few moments to read the way we process a 911 call. Of course we hope you never have to use the 911 system, but in the event that you need to, knowing the exact information we need from you will save valuable time!

1. PHYSICAL LOCATION IS NUMBER 1! - We know you need help and we want to get it you as quickly as possible. So please provide us with the physical location of the incident. The physical location is not always the same as the mailing address. For example, you may have a mailing address of 123 Main Street in Mountaintop, however, the physical address is 123 Main Street in Fairview Township. We need the following:
a) House # or Apartment # (Business name if applicable)
b) Street Name
c) Municipality (name of the town)

If you live in a rural location, please provide the call-taker with directions from the nearest main road to your house.

If the emergency is not occurring in an addressable location (such as on the Interstate) please give us the best location description as possible by including landmarks and/or mile-markers. Also, if your physical address differs from your mailing address, it's a good idea to write it down and post it near your telephone. That way in an
emergency, your correct address can be read to the 911 telecommunicator.

2. NATURE OF THE INCIDENT - tell us exactly what is happening. For example, if someone is having chest pains, or there is a motor vehicle accident etc. Give us the basic description and include important details, for example, if you are reporting a fight tell us if someone has a weapon. If someone has fallen, tell us approximately how far he or she may have fallen. As long as you give us the location and the basic incident details, we can begin to dispatch the units to that location.

3. DON'T HANG UP…WE AREN'T DONE WITH YOU! Please stay on the line with the telecommunicator until he or she instructs you to hang up! We still need your:
a) NAME
b) TELEPHONE NUMBER (of where you are calling from or can be reached)
c) ADDRESS (if it's the same as the incident location tell us it's the same)

WE DO REALIZE THAT MANY PEOPLE WILL BE UPSET IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION, BUT DO THE BEST YOU CAN TO REMAIN CALM. THE FASTER WE OBTAIN AND THE MORE ACCURATE YOUR INFORMATION IS, THE FASTER WE CAN DISPATCH THE RESPONDERS!