Ramsey County Rolls Out New 9-1-1 Form
By Chao Xiong, Star Tribune
Original publication date: Feb. 12
Minneapolis — Ramsey County is rolling out a new program aimed at improving emergency services to its mentally and physically disabled residents: a form with medical information that will be relayed to first-responders before they arrive at a 911 call.
Approximately eight forms have been filled out since the county publicly introduced the program late last month, but disability advocate Mark Hughes, who created and championed the idea, said he plans a big push. The low numbers aren’t discouraging, he said, noting the program’s infancy.
“The point is we’re going to help the disability community,” said Hughes, who has cerebral palsy and serves on Mayor Chris Coleman’s Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities. “We’re going to save lives. As far as we know, we’re the first in the country to have this form.”
The two-year project got the last green light late last year.
The form, which is available online and will be available at libraries and other locations, asks residents for their name, address, phone numbers, “special conditions,” medications and allergies. Residents can also list their doctors, preferred hospital and family contacts.
That information will be entered into a database at the county’s Emergency Communications Center (ECC). When someone calls 911, a flag will pop up on the dispatcher’s computer screen noting that the resident has filled out a Residential Emergency Response Information Form.
Dispatchers will then pull up the information and relay it to first responders over the radio or electronically, said ECC Director Scott Williams.
“It’s just an opportunity to give responders better information about the person or that household,” Williams said.
The function isn’t new to the ECC. Certain buildings with hazardous materials on-site are already coded differently so that when a call from that address comes in, dispatchers can alert first responders.
The form will be invaluable in preparing paramedics and police so they are not caught off guard, said Rick Cardenas, co-director of Advocating Change Together (ACT), a St. Paul-based disability rights group that largely serves developmentally disabled clients.
Cardenas, who is quadriplegic, said some of ACT’s clients have run into communication problems with police and paramedics because of speech problems, or because clients could not follow their instructions. The form could ease those tensions, he said.
Information will be expunged from the county’s database about once a year, and residents should update their information, Williams said.
A link to the form is available at the bottom of the county’s website: www.co.ramsey.mn.us/ecc/What_to_expect.htm
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