When should I call 911?

911 is the standard emergency number all across the United States and Canada. You should call 911 to report any emergency that would require an immediate response from ambulance, fire or law enforcement. Some of these situations include, but are not limited to:

• A serious illness or injury
• A car accident
• A fire in a home, grass or trees
• Seeing or smelling smoke from an unknown source
• A serious crime
• A person in need of rescue
• Any other situation that is potentially dangerous.

What should I do if the fire is in my house?

Do NOT call 911 from your house phone. Remember to stay low and get out of the house immediately. Use a phone at a neighbor's house to call 911, or use a pay phone or a cell phone only when you are a safe distance away from the burning building.

What will the dispatcher ask me?

When you call 911 and are transferred to Evergreen Fire Rescue’s Communications Center, the dispatcher will answer the call and say, “Evergreen Fire EMS, what is your emergency?” They will ask you a series of questions from there that will include:

• Your address
• Your phone number
• Your name
• If you are calling from a residence, the dispatcher will ask if there are any access problems (e.g., Steep or unmarked driveways, Access from a different road, Where the patient is in the house.)
• The dispatcher will determine if there are any hazards present.
• Several other questions will be asked based on the type of problem.

 

 

What is Enhanced 911?

The entire state of Colorado is equipped to handle Enhanced 911 (E911).  This system provides dispatchers with the address or other location of the telephone you are using to call 911. A dispatcher will ask for your address anyway to verify the E911 data is accurate.  This information includes your address, but the dispatcher will verify that the displayed address is correct. Cellular phones and Voice Over Internet Phones (VoIP) phones pose challenges to the verification of locations.

Cell phones have posed problems for the 911 system for almost two decades.  Since cell phones were designed to be mobile, locations of incidents called in from the same phone will vary.  Wireless E911, which is mandated to be implemented by the FCC, currently consists of two phases.  Phase I will provide the dispatcher with the phone number of a calling cell phone and the location of the radio tower the cell phone is using.  Phase II provides a GPS coordinate based on triangulation by towers or a GPS unit giving a precise location.  Some older phone models are not compliant with either Phase I or Phase II, and will not provide the dispatcher with any information.

No matter what information is provided, the dispatcher will always verify the exact location of an incident.  Therefore, it’s important for callers to be aware of their surroundings.

How does 911 work in Evergreen Fire Protection District?

When you call 911, the call goes directly to a Primary Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP.  Since our communications center does not dispatch for law enforcement, the call will first ring into either Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office or Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office dispatch centers in Georgetown or Golden, respectively.  If the call is a fire, a medical emergency or similar incident within the Evergreen Fire Protection District, those dispatchers will transfer the call to the Evergreen Fire Rescue Communications Center in Bergen Park.